The Last Days of Jesus

  “Truly I tell you, among those born of women, there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.”

  * * *

  Another year passes. One night John the Baptist can hear that Antipas is having a party in his palace on this mountaintop. Antipas has invited the most powerful men in Galilee for a banquet. Men and women dine in separate halls, as is the custom. In the men’s hall, Antipas calls for entertainment. His stepdaughter, Salome, enters and performs a solo dance. She is so beautiful that the men can’t take their eyes off her. Antipas feels powerful and extravagant. “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you,” he calls to the girl.

  Salome is young and clever. She rushes from the room to find her mother for advice. “What shall I ask for?” Salome says.

  “The head of John the Baptist,” her mother replies.

  John the Baptist hears the creak of his cell door swinging open. An executioner carrying a broad, sharpened sword enters alone. By the light of the moon, he forces John to his knees. The Baptist is resigned to his fate. The swordsman then raises his weapon high overhead and viciously brings it down.

  John does not feel the weight of the heavy steel blade as it slices his head from his body.

  The voice of one crying out in the wilderness is now silent.

  Herodias has had her revenge against the Baptist for condemning her marriage. But if she and Antipas think that killing John will end the religious fervor now sweeping through Galilee, they are very wrong. John may have stirred strong emotions by cleansing believers of their sins, but another presence is challenging authority in ways never before seen or heard.

  Machaerus as it looked in the 1920s. [Library of Congress]

  CHAPTER 14

  DEFEATED

  APRIL, AD 29 GALILEE DAY

  With every passing day, Jesus’s life is more and more in danger. Many Galileans believe he is the Christ. Because of this, the Roman authorities are paying close attention to Jesus. For under Roman law, a man who claims to be a king is guilty of rebellion against the emperor, a crime punishable by crucifixion. Knowing this, Jesus takes great care to no longer publicly confirm that he is the Christ.

  The representatives of Rome, the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, and Jewish administrator of Galilee, Herod Antipas, have not acted yet. So far, Jesus has shown himself to be a peaceful man. Other than the lone incident with the temple money changers, nothing he has done threatens them or their way of life. He has never once suggested that the people of Galilee rise up against Rome. So they are content to watch from afar—for the moment.

  Roman writing materials, including an ink pot, oil lamp, seal, stylus, and wax tablet. From the Verulamium Museum in England. [The Bridgeman Art Library]

  But the religious authorities feel differently. Led by the temple high priest, Caiaphas, the Pharisees and Sadducees see Jesus as a very real danger. To them, his preaching is a threat to their spiritual authority.

  There is a second side to the religious leaders’ objections to Jesus as well. He threatens their livelihood and wealth. Caiaphas, for example, has amassed his wealth partly through temple taxes—profits from the money changers and the temple concession for sacrificial lambs—so he has a great deal at stake.

  These self-proclaimed men of God have devised a specific plan for handling Jesus: a quiet arrest, followed by a hasty execution.

  But the religious leaders would be rendered impure if they murdered Jesus in cold blood. They cannot pay someone to run him through with a sword or to strangle him in his sleep. No, the Pharisees must play by traditional rules, and this means killing Jesus for a public violation of religious law.

  Portrait of a Roman man holding a scroll, 1st century AD. [The Bridgeman Art Library]

  In search of such an offense, a select team of Pharisees and scribes now travels from Jerusalem to Galilee to observe and listen to Jesus. They are men well versed in the Scriptures. If anyone can find fault with Jesus, they can.

  Or so the religious leaders believe.

  Things go wrong from the start. The Pharisees and Sadducees are frustrated at every turn, for Jesus is a spiritual and intellectual rival unlike any they have ever faced. Despite their best efforts to weaken his movement through public interrogation, Jesus outwits them at every turn, and his popularity continues to soar. The people of Galilee begin to monitor Jesus’s travels so closely that they anticipate where he is going and then race ahead to wait for him. Stories of Jesus turning water into wine and making the lame walk and the blind see have so electrified the region that it is now commonplace for almost anyone with an ailment to seek him out, even if that means being carried for miles to await his appearance. Indeed, the Pharisees themselves witness a puzzling event, as Jesus apparently heals a man’s severely withered hand on the Sabbath—an act which the Pharisees promptly and publicly condemn as a violation of religious law.

  Jesus uses logic and words of Scripture to upend their arguments. One spring day, he and his disciples purchase a meal in the marketplace and prepare to enjoy it. Soon a circle of well-dressed Pharisees gathers around to condemn them for not engaging in the ceremonial washing of the hands. This ritual also includes a premeal cleansing of cups, plates, and cutlery, and is far more suited to the temple courts than a Galilean fishing village. Of course, the famished disciples are in no mood to indulge in such a lengthy process.

  A Pharisee taunts Jesus: “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

  Jesus is calm. He begins by answering a question with a question, a technique he often uses. “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?”

  The Pharisees move closer to the group. A crowd of curious onlookers gathers just behind them. There is now a tight ring around Jesus and his disciples.

  The Pharisees hope that Jesus will now utter words of blasphemy and heresy. If he does, he can be condemned. What they want to hear most is a claim of divinity, a public proclamation by Jesus that he is the Son of God—not an earthly king, but one exalted above the angels and seated on the throne with God.

  That would be enough to have Jesus stoned to death.

  Jesus stands to address the Pharisees. The people of Galilee press closer to hear what he will say. These simple craftsmen and fishermen look poor and tattered in comparison with the Pharisees. Jesus, their fellow Galilean, is dressed just as they are, wearing a simple square robe over his tunic.

  “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you,” Jesus says, looking directly at the Pharisees and Sadducees. He then quotes from the Scripture: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’”

  Group of tiny Roman objects made of alabaster used for makeup and writing, including boxes, vials, comb, papyrus stand, mirror, scribe, and tray. These were tomb furnishings, meant to be buried with a body for use in the afterlife. [The Bridgeman Art Library]

  Jesus is fearless. The force of his words carries out over the crowd. Even though the Pharisees have come here to judge him, the tone of Jesus’s voice makes it clear that it is he who is judging them. “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions,” he scolds his accusers.

  Before they can reply, Jesus turns to the crowd and says, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

  The Pharisees walk away before Jesus can further undermine their authority. The remaining crowds make it impossible for the disciples to eat in peace, so Jesus leads them into a nearby house to dine without being disturbed.

  But the disciples are unsettled. They have heard and absorbed so much of what Jesus has said in their year together and have been witness to many strange and powerful events that they do not understand. They are simple men and do not comprehend why Jesus is so intent on hum
iliating the all-powerful Pharisees. This escalating religious battle can only end poorly for Jesus—and the disciples know it.

  Peter speaks up. “Explain the parable to us,” he asks, knowing that Jesus never says anything publicly without a reason.

  Jesus says, “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person.”

  CHAPTER 15

  “WHO DO PEOPLE SAY I AM?”

  APRIL, AD 29 GALILEE DAY

  Judas Iscariot is among those listening to the words of Jesus. He is the lone disciple who was not raised in Galilee, making him a conspicuous outsider in the group. There is no denying this. He wears the same robes and sandals, covers his head to keep off the sun, and carries a walking stick to defend himself from the wild dogs of Galilee, just like the rest of the disciples. But he is from the south, not the north. Every time he opens his mouth to speak, his accent reminds the disciples that he is different.

  Now Jesus’s words push him farther away from the group. For Judas is also a thief. Taking advantage of his role as treasurer, he steals regularly from the disciples’ meager finances. Rather than allow Jesus to be anointed with precious perfumes by his admirers, Judas has insisted that those vials of perfume be sold and the profits placed in the group’s communal moneybag so that he might steal the money for his own use. Judas’s acts of thievery have remained a secret, and like all thieves, he carries the private burden of his sin.

  Judas apparently believes in the teachings of Jesus and certainly basks in Jesus’s celebrity. But his desire for material wealth overrides any spirituality. He puts his own needs above those of Jesus and the other disciples.

  For a price, Judas Iscariot is capable of doing anything.

  Frustrated by their inability to trap Jesus, but also believing they have enough evidence to arrest him, the Pharisees and Sadducees return to Jerusalem to make their report. And while it may seem as if Jesus is unbothered by their attention, the truth is that the pressure is weighing on him enormously. Even before their visit, Jesus had hoped to take refuge in a solitary place for a time of reflection and prayer. Now he flees Galilee, taking the disciples with him. They walk thirty-four miles north, into the kingdom ruled by Antipas’s brother Philip, toward the city of Caesarea Philippi. The people there are pagans who worship the god Pan, that deity with the hindquarters and horns of a goat and the face of a man. No one there cares if Jesus says he is the Christ, nor will the authorities question him about Scripture.

  Summer is approaching. The two-day journey follows a well-traveled Roman road on the east side of the Hula Valley. Jesus and his disciples keep a sharp eye out for the bears and bandits that can do harm, but otherwise their trip is peaceful. Actually, this is like a vacation for Jesus and the disciples, and they aren’t too many miles up the road before Jesus feels refreshed enough to stop and relax in the sun.

  “Who do the crowds say I am?” Jesus asks the disciples.

  “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life,” come the replies.

  It is often this way when they travel—Jesus teaching on the go or prompting intellectual debate by throwing out a random question.

  “But what about you?” Jesus inquires. “Who do you say I am?”

  Simon speaks up. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

  Jesus agrees. “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my father in heaven,” he praises the impulsive fisherman.

  “Don’t tell anyone,” Jesus adds as a reminder that a public revelation will lead to his arrest by the Romans. They may be leaving the power of the Jewish authorities behind for a short while, but Caesarea Philippi is just as Roman as Rome itself.

  But if the disciples think that Jesus has shared his deepest secret yet, they are wrong. “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law,” Jesus goes on to explain.

  This doesn’t make sense to the disciples. If Jesus is the Christ, then he will one day rule the land. But how can he do so without the backing of the religious authorities?

  And if that isn’t confusing enough, Jesus adds another statement, one that will be a source of argument through the ages.

  “He must be killed,” Jesus promises the disciples, speaking of himself as the Son of God, “and on the third day be raised to life.”

  The disciples have no idea what this means.

  Nor do they know that Jesus of Nazareth, the teacher who inspires them, has less than a year to live.

  CHAPTER 16

  THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES

  OCTOBER, AD 29 JERUSALEM DAY

  It is the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkoth, one of the great celebrations on the Jewish religious calendar. As at Passover, pilgrims by the thousands travel to Jerusalem. On this occasion, the Jews commemorate forty years of wandering in the desert, searching for the Promised Land. It is also a harvest celebration.

  Pontius Pilate, his wife, Claudia, and three thousand soldiers are arriving in Jerusalem. Pilate’s military caravan has set out from the seaside fortress of Caesarea. The Roman governor makes the trip to Jerusalem three times a year for the Jewish festivals. The sixty-mile journey takes them south along the Mediterranean, on a paved Roman road. After an overnight stop, the route turns inward, onto a dirt road across the Plains of Sharon and on up through the mountains to Jerusalem.

  * * *

  The Jewish Religious Year

  Daily life for the Jews in Galilee and Judea revolved around holy days and religious celebrations. Below is the calendar, which starts with September when the Jewish year begins. The name of the month as transliterated from Hebrew is underlined. It is followed by the corresponding names of the months in the Western calendar. Underneath the months are the approximate dates and names of the holy days.

  TISHRI (September–October)

  1, 2

  Rosh Hashanah (New Year)

  3

  Tzom Gedaliahu (Fast of Gedaliah)

  10

  Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)

  15–21

  Sukkoth (Feast of Tabernacles)

  22

  Shemini Atzereth (Eighth Day of the Solemn Assembly)

  23

  Simchas Torah (Rejoicing of the Law)

  HESHVAN or MARHESHVAN (October–November)

  KISLEV (November–December)

  25

  Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication) begins

  TEBET (December–January)

  2–3

  Hanukkah ends

  10

  Asara be-Tebet (Fast of Tebet)

  SHEBAT (January–February)

  15

  Tu-bi-Shebat (New Year of the Trees)

  ADAR (February–March)

  13

  Ta’anit Esther (Fast of Esther)

  14, 15

  Purim (Feast of Lots)

  NISAN (March–April)

  15–22

  Pesach (Passover)

  IYAR (April–May)

  18

  Lag b’Omer (33rd Day of the Omer Counting)

  SIVAN (May–June)

  6, 7

  Shabuoth (Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost)

  TAMMUZ (June–July)

  17

  Shiva Asar b’Tammuz (Fast of Tammuz)

  AB (July–August)

  9

  Tishah-b’Ab (Fast of Ab)

  ELUL (August–September)

  * * *

  Representation of the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in the temple in Jerusalem. French 18th-century engraving. [The Bridgeman Art Library]

  Pilate intends to lend a dominant Roman presence to the Fea
st of Tabernacles, as he does for each important celebration. Pilate has little patience for Jewish ways. Nor does he think the Jews are loyal to Rome. The governor walks a fine line during these festivals: if the Jews revolt—which they are likely to do when they gather by the hundreds of thousands—he will take the blame, but if he cracks down too hard, he could be recalled to Rome for disobeying Tiberius’s order that these people be treated as a “sacred trust.”

  Thus Pilate endures the festival weeks. He and Claudia lodge themselves in Herod the Great’s lavish palace and venture out only when absolutely necessary.

  To the Jewish people, Pilate is a villain. They think him “spiteful and angry” and speak of “his venality, his violence, his thefts, his assaults, his abusive behavior, his frequent executions of untried prisoners, and his endless savage ferocity.”

  Yet one of their own is just as guilty.

  * * *

  Pontius Pilate cannot rule the Jewish people without the help of Joseph Caiaphas, the high priest and leader of the Jewish judicial court known as the Sanhedrin. Caiaphas is a master politician and knows that Emperor Tiberius not only believes it important to uphold the Jewish traditions, but is also keeping the hot-tempered Pilate on a very short leash. Pilate may be in charge of Judea, but it is Caiaphas who oversees the day-to-day running of Jerusalem.