THE RESURRECTION - A REEXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE - PART ONE

LESSON ONE

PURPOSES OF THIS STUDY – TO EXAMINE THE RESURRECTION

Welcome. It is not by chance that you have this study in your hands, and are about to read it, and participate in this examination we are about to make.

You were probably invited to read this by a friend or a loved one, or you decided that you wished to learn more, perhaps uncover some detail about that you may have overlooked, or never considered.

For some, this may be the very first time that they have studied the subject in detail. For others, you have studied it, but not quite like you are about to in these pages.

Well, regardless of which one of these groups you belong to, we are about to embark on a journey; a journey that will take us approximately two thousand years into the past – to a time known by many Biblical Scholars as the Second Temple Era.

At this point in our study, I would ask that everyone release any preconceived ideas of what they think the resurrection to be, and what they believe the Gospels teach about it.

It is the animation of life on a dead and breathless body entombed for a specific period of time where no one can gain access to it, even if they wished. This is what we are about to examine.

But before we do this, we must first understand the political and religious climate of the Judean and Galilean countryside. We must see for ourselves what forces drove the participants to take the actions they did, and its ramifications for the nation of Israel and for the world.
Let us now step into this world of the Second Temple Era, and begin our journey and join the Master as He traveled down His road to His destiny, where His destiny linked up with that of everyone else’s, and has since that fateful day.

THE SECOND TEMPLE ERA – THE TIMES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

What times were these? It was a time of great Messianic expectations, and the Judean countryside was full of all sorts of people claiming one thing or another.

Many false leaders and false messiahs appeared also during this time and were crushed by the Romans, and nothing ever became of either those false prophets or their movements.

Out of all of these, the only Messianic Jewish religious figure ever to emerge from the pages of history to impact not only the Jewish World, but the entire World at large, has been Yeshua Ben Joseph Ben David, otherwise known to the world as Jesus Christ.

Of the instability of this period, we have the following excellent description of the times from an Internet article under the heading, Roman Rule (63 BCE-313 CE):

“When the Romans replaced the Seleucids as the great power in the region, they granted the Hasmonean king, Hyrcanus II, had limited authority under the Roman governor of Damascus. The Jews were hostile to the new regime, and the following years witnessed frequent insurrections. A last attempt to restore the former glory of the Hasmonean dynasty was made by Mattathias Antigonus, whose defeat and death brought Hasmonean rule to an end (40 BCE), and the Land became a province of the Roman Empire.
“In 37 BCE Herod, a son-in-law of Hyrcanus II, was appointed King of Judea by the Romans. Granted almost unlimited autonomy in the country’s internal affairs, he became one of the most powerful monarchs in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. A great admirer of Greco-Roman culture, Herod launched a massive construction program, which included the cities of Caesarea and Sebaste and the fortresses at Herodium and Masada. He also remodeled the Temple into one of the most magnificent buildings of its time. But despite his many achievements, Herod failed to win the trust and support of his Jewish subjects.
“Ten years after Herod’s death (4 BCE), Judea came under direct Roman administration. Growing anger against increased Roman suppression of Jewish life resulted in sporadic violence which escalated into a full-scale revolt in 66 CE.”

THE PRIESTHOOD AND LEADERSHIP OF ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS

This is the world and period in which the events of the Gospel accounts are recorded in the Brit Chadashah.

This also is why the religious and civil leaders of the land kept a close eye on anyone and everyone who claimed to be a prophet, and it is possible that this was their motivation in the beginning, to question both Jesus and anyone connected to Him, but as Jesus’ popularity grew with the people more and more, they began to fear losing their control over them, and their relationship with the Romans, should the people start calling Jesus King. For them there was no king, but Caesar.

During this period, the High Priests Annas and his son in law, Joseph Caiaphas, headed the corrupt priestly dynasty that ruled from Jerusalem at Rome’s behest, which is where Luke places the events of his Gospel.

They were tasked with keeping the people complacent and apathetic with their religious affairs, and help the Roman governors keep order in the land.
We have the following two excellent authorities outside of the Gospels about the leadership held by corrupt priesthood at the time – the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus and the Talmud – both of whom describe the Bet Shammai Sadducee dominated priesthood as robbing the common priests of their tithes and hoarding it for themselves.

The Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus in his ANTIQUITIES describes the manner in which their government conducted their internal priestly functions:

“[B]ut for the high-priest Ananias [Annas], he increased in glory every day, and this to a great degree, and had obtained the favor and esteem of the citizens in a signal manner; FOR HE WAS A GREAT HOARDER UP OF MONEY; he therefore cultivated the friendship of Albinus, and of the high-priest [Jesus], BY MAKING THEM PRESENTS; HE ALSO HAD SERVANTS WHO WERE VERY WICKED, who joined themselves to the boldest sort of the people, and went to the thrashing-floors, AND TOOK AWAY THE TITHES THAT BELONGED TO THE [conservative] PRIESTS BY VIOLENCE, AND DID NOT REFRAIN FROM BEATING SUCH AS WOULD NOT GIVE THESE TITHES TO THEM. SO THE OTHER HIGH-PRIESTS ACTED IN THE LIKE MANNER, AS DID THOSE HIS SERVANTS WITHOUT ANYONE BEING ABLE TO PROHIBIT THEM; so that [some of the] priests, that of old were wont to be supported with those tithes, died for want of food.”

The Talmud has nothing good to say about them. Of them it pronounces the following invectives:

“What a plague is the family of Simon Boethus; cursed be their lances! What a plague is the family of Ananos; cursed be their hissing of vipers! What a plague is the family of Cantharus; cursed be their pens! What a plague is the family of Ismael ben Phabi; cursed be their fists! They are high priests themselves, their sons are treasurers, their sons-in-law are commanders [captains], and their servants strike people with staves.”

When Jesus appeared on the scene, He rocked their world. He presented the most destabilizing element to ever have existed in their time in their relationship with the hated Romans.

This is precisely why He was not welcomed by the chief priests and elders of the people.

THE TIMING OF WHEN THE NEW TESTAMENT EVENTS TOOK PLACE

But it was in the mix of all of these – in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas that the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness; as Luke’s Gospel tells us, that there appeared in the district around the Jordan River a lone voice crying in the wilderness, “Make straight the ways of the Lord!”

It was the voice of John the Emmerser, crying in the wilderness for people to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, who was about to appear; admonishing young and old alike to repent and make T’Shuvah – and return to God, to make their peace with Him before Messiah’s appearance to Israel.

In the true spirit and power of Elijah the prophet, who was to precede Messiah’s coming, John turned the hearts of the young Hellenized and assimilated Jews back to their fathers, and the hearts of the fathers back to their children; as families repented wholesale, and went to John to be ritually immersed in water.

WHY DID THEY EXPECT MESSIAH TO APPEAR AT THIS TIME?

It was known that this would be time when Messiah was to appear before Israel, because of Daniel’s prophecy. During the time of the Babylonian exile, the prophet Daniel prophesied that 488 years would elapse between the time of Artaxerxes’ order to Ezra to erect the walls of Jerusalem, until the Messiah would make His appearance to Israel.

Daniel divides this period into three parts; with each week or heptad equals 7 years – the first part has 7 weeks which are equal to 49 years; the second part has 62 weeks which are equal to 434 years; the third part is comprised of one week which is equal to 7 years; and calculating the sum total of these which are 488 from which we subtract the year that Artexerxes gave his order in Nisan of 457, we come to precisely the time period in which Yeshua/Jesus made His public appearance to Israel. The timing is exact.

Daniel is precise about this; there is no margin for error, though there are many interpretations as to the timing. But the key phrase used here is “from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem” – note, it does not include here an order to rebuild the Temple, because such an order had already been given by King Cyrus in 538 B.C., fulfilling Jeremiah’s, as well as Isaiah’s prophecies regarding the Temple’s restoration and the return of exiles from the land of their captivities.

Artexerxes’ order was to rebuild and to restore the city of Jerusalem and its walls. This is the precise time from which the calculation is made to determine the year of Messiah’s coming. After Ezra, the rebuilding was later continued by Nehemiah in 445 B.C. because Ezra had not completed the task in his day.

Ataxerxes’ command to rebuild and restore Jerusalem and its walls was issued on the month of Nisan in the year 457 B.C. which was the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign.

When one subtracts 488 years from the year this king issued his decree, one comes precisely to the year A.D. 31, about the time of Jesus’ public appearance to Israel and the start of His ministry.

Make no mistake about it, the rabbis of the Second Temple Era knew that if the Messiah was to appear, it would be at this time, or it would not happen at all. He would either appear then, or not appear at all. This is precisely why there we read in the Gospels and Acts that there was so much expectation in the land of the some Messianic Figure and His prophet making an appearance to the nation.

THE REASONS THAT MOTIVATED JESUS’ OPPOSITION

The House of Annas and Caiaphas had a following among the aristocracy, but were despised by the common people, because of their corrupt rule.

Jesus, on the other hand, had great popularity with the people almost everywhere He went, and as time went on; His following grew to great numbers.

Because of this, the Bet Shammai Sadducees led by the House of Annas and Caiaphas – the High Priests – sought at every opportunity when to arrest Jesus and bring Him to trial, and put Him to death. They envied Jesus’ popularity with the people.

But by the Second Temple Era, true to the prophetic declaration; Jesus the Messiah – Shiloh – appeared and the Scepter and the Ruler’s Staff by that time had been removed from beneath Judah’s feet, because the Romans had stripped the civil and religious leaders of Israel their power to execute capital punishment against Him.

Because of this, they had to find a way to arrest Jesus, charge Him with a crime He could be convicted of by Roman law, and have Him tried by the Romans, who did possess this authority, and in so doing, prophetically fulfill Jesus’ manner of execution by piercing after being lifted up on a Roman Cross of execution.

But they had to be careful not to do it during the festival, but when the families were gathering, and Jesus could be captured by stealth, lest the populace who were sympathetic to Jesus’ message; would turn against them, and riot.

Now that we have laid the groundwork of much of the background of the Jewish/Greco-Roman World that serves as the religious and socio-political backdrop to the Gospels, we can examine the events which led to Jesus’ crucifixion, and the earth shattering events in the days which followed.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

THE SEEDS OF BETRAYAL THAT LED TO JESUS’ ARREST

The Gospels tell us that Jesus often spoke of these events with His twelve disciples – that He would suffer betrayal and would be remanded to the Romans by the religious leaders of Israel, resulting in His death, but that He would rise from the dead three days following these events.

The Gospels tell us that Yehudah Ishkrayot – Judas Iscariot – met in secret with the chief priests in order to surrender Jesus to them for money.

Two days before the Passover, they offered him thirty pieces of silver, during the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This was in keeping with the prophecy of the cost of Messiah’s betrayal.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

JESUS’ LAST PASSOVER SEDER WITH HIS DISCIPLES

Two days later, during the Passover Seder, as Jesus reclined with the twelve in the upper room in the lower city near the temple, Jesus again disclosed that one among them was about to betray Him to the Jewish religious and Roman Civil authorities.

When asked by them who it might be, He replied to them that it would be the one who dipped his matzah at the same time Jesus did, and to whom He would give His piece to. To their horror, they discovered it was Yehudah when Jesus gave him His piece of Matzah after having dipped it.

And Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi,” because they had all been asking among themselves who among them it might be.

As they were discussing these things amongst themselves, Jesus turned to Yehudah, saying, “You have said it yourself.” Then Jesus charged him to do what he planned to do and to be quick with it; when He said to him, “What you do, do quickly!”

There could not be a delay with anything, because Jesus’ execution would have to be at precisely when the third hour sacrifice – the Passover sacrifice the following day – was being offered in the temple, but only Jesus knew this at the time.

Jesus knew that all of His immediate followers would fall away and flee and be scattered from the scene of His arrest, because He understood the prophecy about Him and His followers would be fulfilled that very night in the events which would follow at Gethsemane and in and outside Jerusalem in the days which followed.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

BETRAYAL AND ARREST AT GETHSEMANE

When they arrived at Gethsemane, Jesus went on to pray while His disciples sat. It had been a long day full of many activities, full of drama and everyone had been charged with emotion.

Everyone had been involved with preparations for the Seder and now, in Gethsemane it was late in the night, and they were mentally and physically exhausted. When Jesus returned to them from prayer, about three times, and found them all in deep sleep.

Although Jesus Himself was tired, He was excited by what awaited Him and the anguish He felt about what was to come. At one point, Jesus’ anguish became so great that His sweat became as it were like great drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. The following is very enlightening concerning this:

“During the waning years of the twentieth century, 76 cases of hematidrosis were studied and classified into categories according to causative factors: “Acute fear and intense mental contemplation were found to be the most frequent inciting causes” (Holoubek and Holoubek, 1996). While the extent of blood loss generally is minimal, hematidrosis also results in the skin becoming extremely tender and fragile (Barbet, 1953, pp. 74-75; Lumpkin, 1978), which would have made Christ’s pending physical insults even more painful.”

It is interesting that Luke, who was himself a physician, describes this event.

Yehudah Ishkrayot – Judas Iscariot – knew precisely where Jesus would be at this hour, and because He had often visited there with His disciples for prayer and meditation away from the noise of the city above; it was here where he led a well armed throng comprised of a Roman Cohort and a detachment of temple police accompanied by the chief priests. Some of these troops had just recently quelled an insurrection in the city, and they were primed for action should it come from any quarter.

When they arrived at the scene, and found Jesus, they were taken aback when He approached them out of the darkness, and asked, “Whom do you seek?” They replied, “Jesus the Nazarene,” and Jesus replied, “I am He.” When they heard Jesus utter those words, the entire contingency of well armed troops and priests drew back and fell to the ground.

Again therefore, He said to them, “Whom do you seek?” and they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” Jesus answered with great force and authority in His voice, “I told you that I am He; if therefore you seek Me, let these go their way,” that the word might be fulfilled which He spoke, “Of those whom Thou hast given Me, I lost not one.”

Yehudah had prearranged with them that he would greet Jesus with a kiss of greeting, approached the Master and said, “Hail Rabbi!” and kissed Him, so they could identify who He was and arrest Him.

But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” And Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you have come for.” When He said this, they sprang into action and arrested Jesus.

And when those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”

But Peter took a sword and cut off the ear of one of them whose name was Malchus, a slave of the high priest whom Jesus healed on the spot with a simple touch. But Jesus answered and said, “Stop! No more of this!”

Then facing Peter, Jesus charged him to drop his weapon and not do a thing to prevent His arrest, “Put the sword into its sheath; the cup which My Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?

Turning to the well armed throng, Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as against a robber?
“Every day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours , this has happened that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.”

Again turning to Peter, Jesus said to him, “Put the sword into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.
“Or do you not think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
“How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen this way?”

Since Jesus charged them not to arrest anyone but Him, they allowed everyone to go, and at this point all of His disciples fled; one of them, a young man dressed in the linen of the priesthood, left his linen sheet behind and fled naked into the night.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

JESUS IS BROUGHT TO ANNAS FOR QUESTIONING

They took Jesus to Annas’ house. He was the father in law of Joseph Caiaphas, the high priest that year, where there were already gathered a number of scribes and elders present.

In violation of the Torah, the entire body of the elders present in Annas’ house, attempted to hold a trial at night, presenting false witnesses against Jesus, all making contradictory claims.

A true witness against Jesus simply could not be produced, because all of those who came forward spoke falsely concerning Jesus. The harder they tried to pervert justice, the more their case against Jesus unraveled before them.

They knew that the people sympathized with Jesus, and they opposed the illegitimate Roman-appointed priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas over the city and whole region of Judea.

Annas himself interrogated Jesus about His disciples and His teaching. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues, and in the temple, where all the Judeans come together; and I spoke nothing in secret. Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; behold, these know what I said.”

And when He had said this, one of the officers standing by gave Jesus a blow, saying, “Is this the way You answer the high priest?”

Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?”

The Gospels tell us that Peter had been following not far behind, and he stood outside of the high priest’s courtyard, awaiting the outcome. One of the disciples of Jesus, who was known to the high priest, saw Peter standing in the cold, and he brought him in to the high priest’s courtyard so he could warm himself by the fire with the temple police.

It is there that Peter would make his three denials, the last one preceding the crowing of a cock at the crack of dawn, just as Jesus had prophesied to Peter would happen as they ate the Passover Seder. Peter, we are told, remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before a cock crows, you will deny Me three times.”

And it was at that moment when Peter and Jesus’ eyes met, that Peter ran off weeping bitterly. No one could have arranged for this beforehand, and Peter’s raw emotions broke through the surface of his previous denials in front of everyone.

No matter how well planned or choreographed it might have been had this been some sort of elaborate plot, as some alleged happened, such things just do not happen as planned. This was real, and there were many who witnessed it, and the Gospels record it for us.

It is simply impossible to carry out with such accurate timing, detail, and without a single hitch on any of the particulars by all of those who participated in the events. It is simply impossible. It simply happened as the records say.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

ANNAS DELIVERS JESUS TO THE HIGH PRIEST CAIAPHAS

By morning, Annas remanded Jesus to his son in law Caiaphas who was High Priest that year. Jesus was led from Annas’ house to the chamber where the Great Sanhedrin held their councils – where the priests – Sadducees, scribes, and elders – the entire council gathered that day for Jesus’ trial.

Now while the records clearly state that the entire complement of the elders of one branch of Judaism took counsel to put Jesus to death, they are strangely silent about the other; the Pharisees. Their absence in these proceedings is most conspicuous.

This time, in the Hall of Hewn Stones, before the entire Sanhedrin, Jesus answered them without delay. He told them that even if were He to affirm that He was the Messiah, they would still not believe Him.

And were He to ask them a question, they would not be forthcoming with their own answer to it. The reason for His statements was that Torah allowed such exchanges during a trial, but because this was such a duplicitous body, Jesus was telling them that He did not expect them to be lawful in these proceedings.

Whether at Annas’ house or here in this Chamber within the Temple walls, Jesus had kept silent through His interrogation when accused by false witnesses. Seeing that he was getting nowhere with his questioning and the witnesses’ stories could not be corroborated, Caiaphas approached Jesus and forced Him in the name of God – Yud Hey Vod Hey – YHWH – otherwise known as YaHWeY – to answer whether He was the Messiah, the Son of the Most High God.

Jesus’ reply was short and concise, and could not be mistaken. “Yes,” Jesus said, “I am” – the same phrase used by God out of the burning bush to Moses, which Jesus gave in its Aramaic variant – “Ani Hu.”

“You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you hereafter you shall see the SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, AND COMING IN THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

If there had been any doubt that Jesus was claiming for Himself the Messianic Davidic Mantle of God’s Anointed King, this lone statement by Him in answer, laid any doubt to rest.

This was too much for them, and they reacted to it in predictable fashion. Caiaphas ripped his robes ceremoniously, crying, “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; what do you think?” while everyone there began to call for His execution, replying, “He is deserving of death!”

Some of the more brazen among them blindfolded Jesus and began pummeling Him with their fists, and spitting at His face. Fury had overtaken them, and now those hitting Jesus, taunted Him, “Prophesy to us, You Messiah; who is the one who hit You?”

Their hatred of Jesus was spurred on by demonic intent, and had taken hold of them. They lost control over themselves, and now lashed at Jesus all of the pent up animosity they had kept in check in front of the crowds which had built up for this moment.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

YEHUDAH TRIES TO RETURN THE SILVER TO THE CHIEF PRIESTS

Yehudah Ishkrayot – Judas Iscariot – realized the enormity of what he had done, and having felt remorse over it, he returned to the chief priests and elders to give back to them the silver he had received from them.

But when they showed him no interest, and even treated him with scornful disregard, and contempt, he threw the silver into the sanctuary itself in a fit of fury.

This act by Yehudah was his final expression of contempt for them and for the entire religious order. By now, he had no faith, no hope, and was without God in the world. He committed suicide by hanging himself shortly afterwards.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

THE ENTIRE COUNCIL RECOVENES TO SURRENDER JESUS TO PILATE AND OBTAIN A SENTENCE OF DEATH FROM HIM

The entire council took Jesus bound and brought Him to the Roman governor of Judea at this time, Pontius Pilate.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

THE ROMAN PHASE OF JESUS’ TRIAL

Pilate’s contempt for the Jews, especially for those among them who claim to be allies of Rome, was well known.

During his questioning of Jesus, it showed. When he asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews, and Jesus replied rhetorically if he had heard this, or was the question Pilate put to Him was his own; Pilate’s reply draws a distinction between himself and those who surrendered Him; who were from Jesus’ own nation, as he expressed it.

In saying this, Pilate was using a verbal jab; “I’m not a Jew, am I? Jews like Yourself turned You in to me; how would you know whether I know of such things? That’s why I’m putting the question to You – Now are You the King of the Jews? And anyway, what exactly are they accusing You of?”

Jesus’ answer was significant, and lays to rest anyone charging Him with trying to forcibly overthrow the existing order – the Judean religious-authority and the Roman military authority authorized by Caesar to govern in the region of Judea and outlying regions surrounding it.

“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Judeans; but as it is, My kingdom is not from here; of this realm.

Jesus’ reply affirmed that His was not an earthly order such as that of the ruling Judeans and Romans, but of a much higher order and authority; not of this world, but of the realm of God Himself.

Pilate seized upon the moment, because in this answer he detected an admission from Jesus that indeed, He was a king. Pilate therefore said to Him, “So You are a king?”

But, Jesus answered, “You may say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

In typical fashion, Pilate cynically uttered, “What is truth?” Pilate could find no guilt in Jesus, and though he despised the Jews and held their leadership in the Sanhedrin with the utmost contempt, he wasn’t going to grant them their wish to see what to him was another pitiful Jew put to death because of some misguided belief in some obscure Jewish legend of which he knew nothing about.

There was not a single charge under Roman law by which Pilate could order Jesus’ execution. Pilate was amazed with Jesus stoic silence and calm demeanor.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

PILATE DELIVERS JESUS TO HEROD ANTIPAS FOR QUESTIONING

Not motivated by any altruism on his part, or any sense of justice, but wishing to get this controversial and highly charged matter off of his hands, and into someone else’s; when Pilate discovered that Jesus was a Galilean, he quickly had Him delivered into Herod Antipas’ custody, since Herod was charged by Rome over the region of Galilee.

It appeared that events had lined up perfectly, because Herod Antipas was in Jerusalem at the time, in his father’s fortress like mansion on the other side of the city.

It is there where Jesus would be taken to and questioned next. When He arrived, Herod tried to solicit a miracle from Jesus, but when Jesus was not forthcoming with the sign and non-responsive to Herod’s overtures; he dressed Jesus in a “gorgeous robe,” probably some garish outfit meant to mock and demean Jesus’ manhood, particularly among the religious.

Finishing with their taunts and mockery of Him, Herod and his troops returned Jesus to Pilate, who appreciated the gesture for his own Anti-Semitic sadistic reasons.

The records tell us that Pilate and Herod Antipas had been bitter enemies, but with this exchange, became fast friends thereafter.

It appears that Pilate’s discovery that Antipas had as much hatred of Jews as he himself had, helped win Herod’s favor with him, and vice a versa. Now they the two had something in common; they hated the Jews and their alleged “King.”

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

HEROD REMANDS JESUS BACK TO PILATE CUSTODY FOR SENTENCING

Having been returned to Pilate’s custody, Jesus again found Himself before the Romans. As a sign of Roman justice and amity between Caesar and his Judean subjects, the act of clemency was offered to a prisoner during the feast of the Passover every year.

This was not lost on Pilate, who needed to regain favor with Rome, and he quickly took advantage of it by making the same offer to Annas and Caiaphas and their families and allies gathered before him.

Because all of the records in Judea of this period had been destroyed with the genealogies of Israel, and hundreds of other treasures lost to us; the only record of this practice is found in the Gospels.

One detail that is almost missed as one reads the records of these events is the one provided by Mark, where it says that the crowd – stirred up by the high priests – compelled Pilate to release a prisoner to them.

Archeology has yet to unearth anything pertaining to it either in an inscription on a stone, an obelisk containing an inscription, or a parchment with names of those whose sentences were commutated by the Romans.

And it was while Pilate sat in the Judgment seat, that his wife came to him to warn him about a dream she had the night before, exhorting him not to have anything to do with “this Righteous Man.”

But Annas and Caiaphas and their crowds would not be dissuaded; they kept demanding that Pilate take action against Jesus, while their allies shouted for a zealot insurrectionist and murderer named Bar Abbas to be released instead, and calling for Jesus’ death.

Sensing that there would be a riot, especially during the Passover, and already in trouble with Rome, but cognizant of his wife’s dream; Pilate wanted to be finished with the whole matter, so he acted quickly, and releasing Bar Abbas, Pilate had Jesus scourged in preparation to be crucified.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

PILATE HAS JESUS SCOURGED BEFORE SENTENCING HIM

For this, the Roman Cohort was summoned, and they stripped Jesus of his garments, and scourged Him. Because this Cohort would be comprised of troops from nearby Syria where unrest between the Jews there and the Romans had been a continual nuisance, these troops took out on Jesus all of the hatred they had for a Jew who was “the King of the Jews.”

If they hated Jews, they hated Jesus even more, because He was the King of the Jews; to them the cause of all of their troubles in that land. While Jesus was in their custody, they were as vile and as sadistic as they could be with Him.

In an act of mockery, they arrayed Jesus as He bled with a purple and red robe, and fashioned a crown of thorns and thrust it on Jesus’ head. They also took a reed and put it into Jesus’ right hand, and feigned obeisance to Him. And all of them coming out, bowed before Him in feigned obeisance, saying “Hail, King of the Jews!”

Afterwards, they took the reed and began to beat Jesus across the head and face with it. They beat mercilessly with their fists, and spat on Him. The entire Roman Cohort was involved in this. The prophecy of Isaiah says that He was so disfigured by this that He did not resemble a man anymore.

Throughout this entire ordeal, Jesus made gave no answer and made no act of defiance towards anyone, but remained silent, as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, just as the prophecy says.

While Jesus remained completely quiet while He awaited His fate, His detractors became more and more agitated with Him, demanding His execution, though He was the one who was facing eminent crucifixion.

And when Pilate had Jesus come out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple and red robe, pointing to Him, and saying, Ecce Homo – Behold the Man,” they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

Pilate kept asking them why, since Jesus had not committed any crime deserving capital punishment, but they shouted all the more that Jesus had broken their law by claiming to be God’s Only Begotten Son, Pilate became very afraid. Pilate entered the Praetorium, and asked Jesus where He had come from.

Jesus made no answer, so Pilate returned to the crowds, wishing to release Jesus, because the crowds were getting unruly and Pilate himself sensed that there were greater forces at work here than himself and these maddened priests and their allies.

As a pantheist and polytheist, Pilate believed that he and those involved in this affair were some pawns of the gods, with Jesus and His fate directly at it center.

Exasperated with Jesus, Pilate shouted at Him that he held the sole authority to either release Jesus or have Him crucified. This solicited Jesus’ response, and looking directly at Pilate, He told Him point blank, “You would have no authority over Me were it not granted to you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin” meaning that Pilate’s guilt in this matter was not as great as that of the one who had Jesus arrested.

When Pilate heard these words, he was almost in a state of near panic; he went out to a place called the Pavement, also called in Hebrew, Gabatha, where he and took his seat to judge the Judge of all the earth.
His attempts to release Jesus were all thwarted.

However, these crafty Judeans who gathered before him, who were led by the priests and their families, shouted above everyone else, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him! If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar’s, everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and told the crowd mockingly, “Behold your King!” This put them into a greater frenzy, shouting for Jesus to be crucified.

Wishing to taunt them, Pilate shouted, “Shall I crucify your King?” Annas and Caiaphas shouted, “We have no king but Caesar!” Then wishing to exonerate himself of any guilt over Jesus’ death, Pilate took a basin of water and washed his hands in it, declaring, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood, see to it yourselves.”

Then the entire crowd gathered before Pilate, shouted, “His blood be on us and our children,” thus pronouncing on themselves and their relatives present blood guiltiness.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

A NECESSARY WORD OF CLARIFICATION ABOUT BLOODGUILTINESS

We must digress for moment from these proceedings to take a closer look at this statement shouted by this crowd, because it has been, and continues to be misapplied and misinterpreted by Anti-Semites for two thousand years to this very day against the Jewish people.

The Jewish people have been collectively accused by non-Jews even in the second and third centuries, when the Church was in its infancy, of being “Christ killers” precisely because of the statement by this crowd who stood before Pilate.

But those who make this charge forget that it is Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the writings of the Brit Chadashah who says that it pleased God to render Jesus as an offering for sin, and that it was God who gave His Only Begotten Son for the guilt of mankind.

The crowd standing before Pilate indeed paid with their blood years later when the Romans sacked Jerusalem, the priesthood and sacrifices came to an end, and the Jewish people faced exile for two thousand years across the four points of the compass.

Judaism itself as they had known it came to an end when Jerusalem and temple were destroyed years later. Second Temple Biblical Judaism was replaced by Rabbinical Judaism.

The rabbi replaced the priest, the synagogue replaced the temple, the mitzvah of prayer and good deeds replaced sacrifice. The Law changed and so did Judaism, and with this, Jewish social and religious life.

As far as the Jewish people are concerned, they are as guilty as any other nation before God; like all men and women who are born into this world with an evil inclination to sin repeatedly, and whose guilt before the holiness of God can only be expiated by the blood of the Lamb which God has provided, just as Father Abraham promised that God would do when he spoke to Isaac long ago, when he told him that God would provide the lamb for the sacrifice.

God provided the lamb for the sacrifice for Abraham, and now He was providing it for all of mankind, as He did then in Jesus, and He has now for us through Him, and for all time. The lamb God has provided is Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

PILATE SENTENCES JESUS TO BE EXECUTED BY CRUCIFIXION

Now let us return to the scene of the Roman phase of Jesus’ trial as it reached its final destination. As Pilate looked at the crowd before him, his thoughts raced through his mind.

“This crowd is out for blood, the blood of their king. They want blood? They’ll get blood,” so thought Pilate. “What’s the blood of another Jew? And here was one calling Himself a King.”

But here also was a unique opportunity presenting itself for Pilate to placate this crowd, and so Pilate decided to satisfy its lust for blood.

Again, Pilate wanted to avoid having to use his troops in quelling this crowd, who after all, were allied with Caesar.

If word got back to Rome that he took any punitive measures against them, or curried their disfavor, he would be recalled back to Rome, which happened years later.

While it may be said that the Sanhedrin started what the Romans finished, its purposes was established by God. The Scriptures tell us that “God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life.”

What parent would give their child to save another, especially to save even people who might never accept such an act or appreciate it? But this is what God has done for the entire human race through this death.

Jesus carried His own cross beam with a mocking sign preceding Him, saying, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews,” written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. It was Pilate’s parting coupe de grace to the Jews he hated with every fiber of his being.

When the chief priests saw the sign that the Romans had placed above Jesus’ head, they protested to Pilate, and demanded that he change it to read, “He said He was King of the Jews,” but Pilate told them dismissively, “What I have written, I have written.” The sign remained unchanged.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

ROMAN CRUCIFIXION – ORIGINS AND DESCRIPTION

We take a moment to describe to the reader what it was like. The victim would have his/her wrists and ankles nailed by four and half inch metal spikes to a cross beam they would carry to the place of execution.

Then he/she would be hoisted on to the upright post waiting at the location. The same post would be used over and over again.
Crucifixion was invented by the Persians some 400 years earlier, and was used by Alexander the Great, and the Carthaginians, then later by the Romans.

The Romans used it to project their power and show the fate that awaited all who opposed Roman rule. In the year 71 B.C., the Romans suppressed a slave revolt led by Spartacus, and the Roman General Crassus had 6000 of them crucified along the Apian Way outside Rome itself.

The practice of crucifying continued for decades, when General Titus, the Emperor Vespasian’s son, led five Roman Legions against Jerusalem, and had every Jew who attempted to escape Jerusalem captured and crucified in A.D. 70.

500 Jews were crucified daily during this time by the Romans, who were so sadistic that they nailed them up in grotesquely obscene poses.

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

THE FINAL EVENTS THAT LED TO JESUS’ DEATH

Now let us return to the mount of Golgotha, to the scene of Jesus’ crucifixion, and continue our examination of the events which took place there.

Because Jesus had lost so much blood when His back was flayed open when the Roman whip ripped into His skin, and formed deep bloody wounds on His entire torso, He was now weak and exhausted.

At a point as He carried His cross beam to the place of execution just outside of the wall of the city on a hill overlooking the city, His knees gave out and they had to press someone to carry it the rest of the way.

The records tell us that it was a Cyrinian named Simon who carried Jesus’ cross for Him to the hill. When they arrived at the hill, they crucified Jesus between two criminals.

The Romans themselves took the only possession Jesus had, His tunic; woven in four parts into a seamless garment, and gambled for it. Later they divided it among themselves.

Passersby who could see the execution from the city, jeered at Jesus and shouted at Him to save Himself and them. Others sneered at Him, taunting Him by saying, “He saved others, Himself He cannot save. Let Him save Himself if He is the Messiah of God, the Chosen One. Let this Messiah, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross so that we may see and believe!”

THE EVENTS AS THEY TOOK PLACE IN THEIR ORDER

JESUS MAKES HIS FINAL SEVEN STATEMENTS FROM THE CROSS

In the midst of their taunts and jeers, Jesus pleaded on behalf of His tormentors, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Even those crucified to Jesus’ right and left were taunting Him, but one of them soon came to his senses, realizing the enormity of what he had just done, and turning to Jesus in full repentance, uttered, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” Jesus told him, “Truly, truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Then addressing Himself to His grieving mother, Jesus lovingly said, “Woman, behold your son!” then looking to John, He said, “Behold your mother!”

Jesus charged the young man to care for His mother. As the oldest Son in a Jewish household, Jesus was now delegating to John responsibility to care for His mother. The Scripture records that from that hour the disciple took Miriam into his own household.

Some have asked why Jesus did not charge Jacob/James with this responsibility, since he was her oldest son apart from Jesus; and the reason for this was because at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, he was not yet a believer.

The resurrection of Jesus would change that, and Jacob/James would realize that his half Brother Jesus was the Messiah. He would become one of the pillars of the New Jerusalem community of the Way, and because his responsibilities would take him to lead the community, Jesus knowing all things, charged the young John with this responsibility.

From the sixth hour to the ninth hour, a great and penetrating darkness fell over all the land. It was at this moment when Jesus shouted the most blood curdling utterance He would ever make in His life:
“ Eloi, Eloi, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which translated means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Some standing nearby thought Jesus had called upon Elijah, and when Jesus said, “I thirst,” one of them took a sponge dipped in sour wine on a long pole, and put it to Jesus’ lips to wet them.

Summoning what life remained in Him, as it ebbed away, Jesus said with a loud voice in everyone’s hearing, “It is finished.”

Then crying out His last words, He looked to heaven and with a loud voice said to God, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”

He breathed His last, bowed His head, and yielded up His spirit.

ADDENDUM:

Ancient Contemporary Historical Timeline and New Testament Events Occurring During The Second Temple Period
153 BC: Jonathan Apphus is High Priest.
142 BC: Simeon Tassi, brother of Jonathan Apphus is High Priest.
134 BC: John Hyrcanus I, son of Simeon Tassi is High Priest.
104 BC: Aristobulus I, son of John Hyrcanus is High Priest.
103 BC: Alexander Jannaeus, son of John Hyrcanus is High Priest.
100-44 BC: Life of Julius Caesar of Rome.
96 BC: Tigrames, King of Armenia.
90 BC: Civil war in Rome; Marius versus Sulla. Sulla wins by defeating Marius.
89-88 BC: King Mithriades VI Eupator of Pontos massacres 80,000 Romans in Asia minor and frees most of southern Greece from Roman rule.
87-86 BC: Roman general Sulla defeats Mithriades, burns Athens, strips Greek shrines, and demands reparations for rebellion.

82 BC: Sulla defeats Marius the Younger, and is made "Dictator for life." He resigns in 79 BC, and dies in 78 BC.
ca 79 BC: Lucullus imports the first cherry trees from Asia Minor to Rome.
76-66 BC: Alexandra Salome, widow of Alexander Jannai, succeeds him as ruler and appoints her son Hyrcanus II as high priest. She reinstates the Pharisees' ordinances, and their control of Temple practices and calendar.
72 BC: Germanic tribes invade Gaul.
71 BC: The revolt of slaves and gladiators in Rome, led by Spartacus, is put down by Pompey and Crassus.
70-19 BC: Virgil, Roman poet.
66 BC: The death of Alexandra Salome takes place. Her sons were Aristobulus II and Hyrcanus II. They commenced a struggle for power, which involved Antipater and the Romans. That was a mistake – the Romans take it all.
66-63 BC: Aristobulus II, younger son of Salome, wrests kingship and high priesthood from his brother Hyrcanus II: allies with the Sadducees.
65-68 BC: Horace, Roman poet.
63 BC: Roman occupation of the regions of the Holy Land. Pompey invades Judea, renames it Palestine, and makes it part of the Roman province of Syria; the Temple Mount besieged and captured. Pompey decides in favor of Hyrcanus II, but deposes him from kingship, and appoints him High Priest. The end of the Hasmonean dynasty follows. Aristobulus II and others were marched as captives in triumph through Rome, then became part of Rome's growing Jewish community
63 BC: Hyrcanus II, is the High Priest in Jerusalem.
27 BC: Gaius Octavius becomes the Emperor Augustus. .
9 BC: First Triumvirate of Rome.
58 BC: Caesar conquers Gaul.
55 BC: Caesar leads the Roman invasion of Britain.
51 BC: Caesar writes "De bello Gallico."
51-31 BC: Cleopatra VII, last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt.
49 BC: Caesar wins battle against Pompey near Thermopylae in Greece. Caesar brings his army across the Rubicon river, into Rome. "Crossing the Rubicon" equivalent to declaring war on Rome. Caesar's statement “Alea jacta est.”
49-47 BC: Civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey breaks out at this time.
48 BC: The birth of a son – Caesarion - to Julius Caesar of Rome and Cleopatra VII of Egypt. They set up house together in Rome, although Caesar already had a Roman wife.
47 BC: Herod is made governor of Galilee. As a reward for support of his Egypt campaign, Caesar appoints Hyrcanus as Ethnarch of Jews, and Antipater as procurator of Judea. Cleopatra of Egypt has Pompey murdered. She later tried to persuade Mark Antony to have Herod assassinated, so that she could take Judea, but Mark Antony refused. The great Library of Alexandria burned.
60 BC: Julius Caesar appointed Dictator of Rome. The Julian Calendar - leap years introduced.
45 BC: Caesar adopts his nephew Gaius Octavius as his heir.
44 BC: Julius Caesar assassinated in Rome, March 15. The assassins were led by Cassius and Brutus. Caesar's last words were "Et tu, Brute?" Civil war breaks out.
43 BC: Founding of the Roman town of Lundinium (London) on the site of earlier settlements at fords across the River Thames.
43 BC - AD 18: Ovid, Roman poet.
42 BC: Caesar's adopted son Octavian joins with Mark Antony to defeat Cassius and Brutus in Macedonia. Cassius and Brutus commit suicide. Mark Antony takes control of the eastern regions, and makes Athens his capital.
40 BC: Herod the Great, son of Antipater and friend of Mark Antony, goes to Rome and gets himself appointed as a vassal king under Roman authority, called "King of the Jews" although he himself was of Edomite descent.
40-37 BC: Antigonus II, the son of Aristobulus II, with help from Parthians, is caught in a power struggle with Herod the Great. Antigonus II rules until his execution is ordered by Herod.
37 BC: Herod the Great – an ally of the Romans – captures Jerusalem, and has Antigonus II executed by the Romans. Herod is crowned King of the Jews by Caesar Augustus just three years later.
40BC: Rule of Herod I. Herod marries Miriamme I, and styles himself "King of the Jews". Eventually Herod kills Miriamme and the sons he had by her. Antigonus, son of Aristobulus II is High Priest.
38 BC: Mark Antony returns to Egypt and to Cleopatra.
37-36 BC: Ananelus is High Priest.
36 BC: Aristobulus III is High Priest. Upon assuming the throne, Herod quickly murders Aristobulus, the Jewish Hasmonean High Priest, and gives the high priesthood to the family of Boethus by appointing one from among them High Priest.
36-30 BC: Civil war in Rome between Octavian Caesar and Mark Antony breaks out. Ananelus (restored) is High Priest.
30-23 BC: Joshua ben Fabus is High Priest.
32 BC: Mark Antony and Cleopatra’s forces invade Italy to fight Emperor Octavian’s forces.
31 BC: Naval Battle of Actium in Greece takes place: Mark Antony and Cleopatra are defeated by Octavian and commit suicide. This is the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Egypt is made a Roman province.
27 BC: Octavian takes the name Augustus and founds the Roman Empire Construction of the system of straight Roman roads to facilitate movement of the army throughout the Empire begins at this time.
22-5 BC: Simon ben Boethus is High Priest.
20 BC: Herod the Great starts to rebuild and extend the Temple in Jerusalem. The project continued until AD 62 when it was completed.
13 BC - AD 41: Philo of Alexandria.
4 BC – Jesus the Messiah is born in the small town of Bethlehem located in the province of Judea.
AD 1-11 – Saul-Paulus is born in Tarsus of Cilicia into a Jewish family of Pharisees and tent-makers with Roman citizenship. He would be sent to Jerusalem to sit at the feet of the great Rabban Gamaliel I.
5-4 BC: Matthias ben Theophilus is High Priest.
AD 4 – Herod the Great dies. His son Archelaus is made Ethnarch of Judea.
4-3 BC: Eleazar ben Boethus is High Priest.
3-? BC: Joshua ben Sie is High Priest.
?-A.D. 6: Joazar ben Boethus is High Priest.
AD 6: Rome takes direct control of Palestine by appointing Roman Prefects. Herod Archelaus deposed by Emperor Augustus. Samaria, Judea and Idumaea are annexed as is the province of Judaea, with the capital at Caesarea. Quirinius: Legate (Governor) of Syria, 1st Roman tax census of Judaea is imposed.
A.D. 6-15: Ananus ben Seth is High Priest.
AD 14: Tiberius Emperor of Rome.
A.D. 15-16: Ishmael ben Fabus is High Priest.
A.D. 17-18: Simon ben Camithus is High Priest.
A.D. 18-36: Joseph Caiaphas is High Priest. He was appointed by Valerius Gratus.
AD 26: Pontius Pilate is made Roman Prefect of Judaea, Samaria, and Idumaea.
AD 32, Passover: Jesus is crucified at about age 33, resurrects from the dead on the third day, appears to several hundred of His followers during a period of forty days, and then ascends before their eyes to God’s right hand. The Kehilah of the Way is founded on Shavuot with the coming of the Holy Spirit. A couple of hundred followers explode to several thousand within days, and over the next several months.
________________________________________
SOURCES CITED:

The Second Temple Period or Era includes Persian and Hellenistic Periods (538-142 BCE), Hasmonean Dynasty (142-63 BCE), and the Era of Roman Rule (63 BCE-313 CE),
These were Simon of Perea (4 B.C.) a former slave of Herod the Great who rebelled and was crushed by the Romans; Athronges (4-2 B.C.) a shepherd who with his four brothers, led a rebellion against Herod Archelaus and the Romans after proclaiming himself the Messiah. He and his brothers were defeated; Judas the Galilean (A.D. 6) who led a violent revolt in Judea against the Roman Census by Quirinius. His revolt was crushed by the Romans; Menachim ben Judah, the son (or grandson) of Judas of Galilee, who was leader of the dreaded Sicarii – the Daggermen - when war broke out against Rome, his group of zealots took Masada, overran Agrippa’s forces in the Fortress Antonia II, and forced the Roman Garrison to retreat. He was later captured by Eleazar the Temple Captain and rival Zealot, who had Menachem tortured and killed. Theudas, who led a revolt in A.D. 46 and was suppressed. John of Gishcala, who was a leader in the first Jewish war against the Romans, and played a role in the destruction of Jerusalem. The last of these pseudo-messiahs was Shimon Ben Kosibah, (c. A.D. 135), led the last revolt against the Romans, and was given the name Bar Kochba – Son of the Star – by Rabbi Akiba, who proclaimed him the Messiah, and renamed him in accordance to the Messianic Prophecy in Numbers 24:17, which says: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth.” Bar Kochba’s Revolt was crushed by the Romans, and his messianic claims came to an end. None of these false messiahs have ever impacted the human race, but have caused great wrath for Israel and suffering to the Jewish people.
Jesus Son of Joseph, Son of David. He was a descendant of both Joseph the son of Jacob, and a direct descendant in the kingly Davidic Line within the tribe of Judah.
Jesus was a Jew and He was and continues to be a religious figure, even to His detractors, and this is why He is a Jewish religious figure.
From the website at the following link to the URL: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/History/HISTORY-+The+Second+Temple.htm
John 11:48.
John 19:15c.
Ananus Ben Seth.
Hebrew name, Yosef Bar Kayafa. From Wikipedia the Online Encyclopedia, we have the following additional information on Caiaphas: “In June 2011, archaeologists from Bar-Ilan and Tell Aviv Universities announced the recovery of a stolen ossuary, plundered from a tomb in the Valley of Elah. The Israel Antiquities Authority declared it authentic, and expressed regret that it couldn't be studied in situ.[5] It is inscribed with the text: "Miriam, daughter of Yeshua, son of Caiaphas, Priest of Ma’aziah from Beth ‘Imri". Based on it, Caiaphas can be assigned to the priestly course of Ma’aziah, instituted by King David.” Caiaphas' term in office was recorded by the first-century Jewish historian Josephus. Further down it says the following: “He was appointed in AD 18 by the Roman prefect who preceded Pilate, Valerius Gratus.[1]”
The High Priests were appointed by the Roman governor and were appointed by Rome since Matt
Luke 3:1-2. During this period Judaism was split between two prevailing houses; the Bet Hillel, or House of Hillel and the Bet Shammai, or House of Shammai. They often opposed each on almost every aspect of the Law, with the Bet Shammai being more severe in their interpretation of various matters.
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 20.9.2.
Talmud, Pesahim 57
Luke 3:1-2.
Matthew 3:1-17, Mark 1:2-11, Luke 3:1-18, 21, 22, John 1:6-8, 3:23, 25-36.
John the Baptist.
In Matthew 11:14, Jesus explains to those who would listen and understand the implication of what He was saying to His audience, that John was Elijah who preceded the Messiah, Himself. What was Jesus saying here? “Elijah will come before the Messiah, John was Elijah, and I am the Messiah. Let him who can understand what I am saying, know this and understand it.”
Malachi 3:1. 4:5.
Malachi 4:6.
This water emersion is still practiced by observant Jews today in ritual bath houses in what is called Mikvah.
Daniel 9:24-27.
(see Ezra 7:6, 7, 9:9) Again, the key phrase here in determining the exact period is “from the issuing of the decree for command) to rebuild and restore Jerusalem.” The first decree by Cyrus was to commence construction on the Temple itself, the order or decree to rebuild and restore Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes in 457 B.C.
John 11:48.
Matthew 27:18, Mark 15:10.
Genesis 49:10. Why the Tribe of Judah? Because the Star of the Messianic Mantle – Israel’s leadership; would arise from Judah (Numbers 24:17), and its lineage would be from the Davidic Royal Line which itself was specifically from the Tribe of Judah. Messiah could come from nowhere else and the means to trace His lineage would still have to be in existence at the time of His appearance to Israel. Since A.D. 70, there has not existed a recorded genealogy whereby any Jew could trace his ancestral origins as to what tribe he/she is descended from.
Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Zechariah 12:10b. John 12:32-33. The Messiah’s execution would not be by hanging, stoning, burning, or any other means. The prophecies about Messiah’s execution were precise and to the letter, and so it was fulfilled when it took place.
Matthew 26:3-5, Mark 14:1-2, Luke 22:1-2, John 11:47-53. This was in fulfillment to Psalm 2:1-3, where the civil and religious leaders of Judaism and their Gentile military allies conspired against God and His Anointed (Messiah).
Matthew 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:17-19, 26:1-2, Mark 8:31, 9:30-32, 10:32-34, Luke 9:22, 31, 43-45, 18:31-34, John 12:32-33, 18:31-32. He disclosed these things only to His closest and immediate disciples.
Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11, Luke 22:2-6, John 13:2.
Zechariah 11:12-13. In the Law, this is price required for an ox’s owner pay when his animal gores a slave (Ex. 21:32.
It is known as the Ophel.
John 13:21-27a.
Matthew 26:25a.
Matthew 26:22, Luke 22:23. There was even a dispute among the disciples as to which one of them was to be greatest, which Jesus quickly put to an end (Luke 22:24). They had this dispute before (Luke 9:46-48, Mark 9:33-37).
Matthew 26:25.
John 13:27.
Matthew 26:31. See Zechariah 13:7. The rest of the prophecy took place when the Jewish people went into exile, and two thirds of the population perished in unbelief, while a third; a remnant persevered in their faith in the Messiah. It has been like this to this day. This prophecy came to pass literally. See Romans 9:27-28.
Matthew 26:36-39, Mark 14:26, 32-35, Luke 22:3941, John 18:1-2. John is more descriptive of the location than the other Gospel writers, even describing it as across the ravine of the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, into which Jesus and His disciples entered. The garden they entered was Gethsemane.
Matthew 26:36-47a, Mark 14:32-43a, Luke 22:39-47a. John’s Gospel does not give this detail.
Luke 22:44. This phenomenon is called Hematidrosis.
From an Internet article by the Apologetics Press, titled, Did Jesus Sweat Blood? Dave Miller Ph.D. For those who wish to read the entire article, it is at the following URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=1086
A Roman Cohort was the basic tactical unit of the Roman Legion following the reforms of Gaius Marius in 107 B.C. Because a Roman Cohort consisted of six "centuries" or centuria of 80 men, with each commanded by a centurion who was assisted by junior officers, the cohort accompanying the temple police and chief priests and their allies, was a considerable number of professional troops. This cohort probably numbered as much as four hundred eighty troops. For more information, the reader is referred to the following URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohort_(military_unit)
Luke 23:19. Bar Abbas in Hebrew means literally, “son of the father,” but this “son of the father was a murderer and a thief involved in zealotry and insurrection against Rome.
John 18:4-6.
John 18:4-9.
This ancient manner of greeting someone is still practiced by Muslims, Egyptian Copts, and Orthodox Catholics; among the people of various lands and nationalities across the world today.
Matthew 26:47-49.
Luke 22:47-48.
Matthew 26:50.
Luke 22:49.
Matthew 26:51, Mark 14:47.
Luke 22:50.
Luke 22:51.
John 18:11.
Luke 22:53.
Mark 14:48-49. See also Matthew 26:55-56.
Matthew 26:52-25.
Mark 14:50-52. This young man was probably a priest, because their custom was to wear linen without any clothing underneath, and he had not changed his clothes, though the reason for this is not given, nor is this detail either, because it was assumed by the writer that those reading the account were informed of these matters and the details of the priestly services and those assigned to them.
Luke 22:54.
John 18:12-13.
Luke 22:54, John 18:13a.
Mishnah, Tractate Sanhedrin 4.1: “In noncapital cases they hold trial during the daytime and the verdict may be reached during the night; in capital cases they hold the trial during the daytime and the verdict must also be reached during the daytime. In noncapital cases the verdict, whether of acquittal or of conviction, may be reached the same day; in capital cases a verdict of acquittal may be reached on the same day, but a verdict of conviction not until the following day.”
Exodus 20:16, 23:1-3
Matthew 26:59-63a, Mark 14:55-61a,
John 18:19-21.
John 18:22.
John 18:23.
Matthew 26:58, John 18:15.
Some believe this disciple not named in the Gospel of John, as that witness throughout the Gospel, who provides the details of what occurred within Annas’ house and later in the Hall of Hewn Stones, where Jesus would be tried by the entire body – the Great Sanhedrin. Some believe he is the Elder of 1, 2 and 3rd John, though there is confusion as to whether John the Elder is John the Priest or they are two different people.
Mark 14:54, Luke 22:55.
Mathew 26:69-75, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:55-62, John 18:15-18, 25-27.
Luke 22:61-62.
Luke 22:61. See Luke 22:31-34, Matthew 26:31-35, Mark 14:26-31, John 13:36-38.
John 18:24.
Mark 15:1, The Great Sanhedrin was also known as the Knesset Hagedolah (Great Assembly) where the supreme religious and judicial body of Israel and Judaism’s leadership gathered. Yet it is striking that the Gospels do not include the Pharisees as present among those who brought Jesus to trial!
It is noteworthy that the Pharisees were not present at this gathering, nor in any of the others where Jesus was condemned to death. It appears that fearing that Jesus had too many secret followers among that body of elders, they were not apprised of these gatherings, but were with their families celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
A picture of this location is included in the Addendum in the back of this study.
Luke 22:66.
Matthew 27:1a, Mark 15:1a.
Luke 22:70c.
Luke 22:70.
Mark 14:62.
Matthew 26:64. This added Messianic affirmation by Jesus was a description given by Daniel the prophet of the Son of Man who approaches the Ancient of Days; and that all those present would see it with their own eyes some day. See Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14. Jesus gave to them the Messianic declaration that He would be seated at the right hand of the God – a Hebrew phrase denoting God’s favor, but under its Messianic connotation, it took on a greater meaning to those who heard it. He was the Messiah.
Matthew 26:65-66. Of course, they shouted that Jesus was uttering blasphemies. This was anticipated, because were they to accept His Messianic credentials and claims, they would have to declare Him King, and this would bring the wrath of Rome on them, something they feared more than God.
Matthew 26:67-68, Mark 14:65, Luke 22:63-65.
Matthew 27:3-5. Pater provides a complete description of Yehudah’s fate in Acts 1:16c-20, providing even the prophecy specifically pertaining to this fate he suffered for betraying the Master.
Pilate’s troubled governorship lasted for ten tumultuous years; from A.D. 26 to 36.
John 18:33-35.
John 18:36.
John 18:37.
John 18:38-39.
Luke 23:6-7.
Luke 23:7.
Luke 23:11a.
Luke 23:11b.
Luke 23:12.
Matthew 27:15-17, Mark 15:6.
All four Gospels provide us with the record of this practice.
Matthew 27:20, Mark 15:11.
Mark 15:8.
Matthew 27:19.
Matthew 27:20-23, Mark 15:11-14, Luke 23:13-25, John 18:39-40.
Mark 15:15.
Matthew 27:27-31, Mark 15:16-20, John 19:2, 3.
Matthew 27:30, Mark 15:19, John 19:3b.
Isaiah 52:13-15.
Isaiah 53:7.
John 19:4-6.
John 19:7-9.
John 19:10.
John 19:11.
John 19:12.
This is how it is said in Hebrew to denote New Covenant; or the New Testament.
Isaiah 52:15, 53:4-10a.
This was the meaning of Peter’s prophetic warning in 1Peter 4:7, where he warned his Jewish Christian readers that their Jewish World was about to come to an abrupt end. This is another verse that has been misunderstood, and therefore misinterpreted to this day, because those reading it have not understood the socio-political context in which the Jewish religious order found itself at the time of its writing.
Hebrews 7:12.
Romans 3:9. Judaism calls it the Evil Inclination, Roman Catholics call it Original Sin, and Protestants use the term, the flesh, or the Adamic Nature; but regardless what phrase one uses, it is factual that every living person inherits these traits from their ancestors.
Pilate was indeed recalled to Rome in A.D. 36. His excesses against Rome’s Jewish subjects had exceeded Roman law, and Caesar deposed him and he went into exile disgraced.
John 3:16. See also, 2Corinthians 5:19-21, Galatians 3:13, Hebrews 9:11-14, 22-28, 10:10-14.
John 19:27.
Mark 15:34. See Matthew 27:46.
John 19:28, 29.
John 19:30.
Luke 23:46.
He served as High Priest from 153 to 143 BC. Hasmonean Dynasty.
He served from 142 to 134 BC. Hasmonean Dynasty.
He served in this capacity from 134 to 104 BC. Hasmonean Dynasty.
He served as High Priest from 104 to103 BC. Hasmonean Dynasty.
He would serve in this capacity from 103 to 76 BC. Hasmonean Dynasty.
Hasmonean Dynasty.
Also called Antipas, the military commander of Idumaea.
Hasmonean Dynasty.
This is a Latinized play on the word, Philistines. This was specifically used by the Romans to taunt the Jews; since centuries before, the Jews conquered the Philistines; now their Roman oppressors used the term to deride them as a conquered people. The word Palestine and Palestinian has vexed Israel to this day. The Palestinians of today have no relations to the Philistines of ancient times, but are displaced Arabs from the lands partitioned by the British and French at the end of the First World War. These displaced Arabs settled in the lands where the nations of Jordan, Syria, and Israel are located today; the majority having settled in Jordan until most of them were expelled following a coupe de tat against the Hashemite Kingdom in 1971 by the PLO. They relocated to Lebanon.
Hebrew: Cohen Gadol.
He would be High Priest beteen the years 63 and 40 BC.
He reigned from 27 BC to AD 14.
Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey.
Account of the Gallic War.
Meaning; “The die is thrown,” or “The die is cast.”
It is not known whether this fire was accidental. Some scholars are now of the belief that it was not.
He reigned from 60 to 44 B. C.
Octavian.
"The Ides of March."
Meaning; “You too, Brutus?”
Otherwise known as Herod the Great. Ruled from 40 BC to A.D. 4.
A Hasmonean Princess and granddaughter of both Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II.
The Romans joked, "I would rather be Herod's pig than his son." Herod, an Idumean, interestingly passed himself off as a Jew, and would not eat pork. He was never really accepted by his Jewish subjects, but was highly disliked and hated in many circles.
He served from 40 to 37 BC
36 BC: Aristobulus III last of the Hasmoneans; paternal grandson of Aristobulus II and brother of Herod's wife Marianne (second wife of Herod).
There were overall 28 High Priests. The longest serving one from among them was Joseph Caiaphas, who served as High Priest from A.D. 18 to 36. He was the son in law of Ananas, or Annas the High Priest who presided over that house.
Also known as Augustus.
He reigned from 27 BC to AD 14.
A.D. 4-6.
This is the Annas which the Gospels mention, who along with his son in law Joseph Caiaphas as High Priest, presided over the Sanhedrin responsible for remanding Jesus to the Roman Procurator, Pontius Pilate for trail and execution by crucifixion. So influential and powerful was Annas that though he was not the Cohen Ha Gadol (the High Priest), he was still called the High Priest by the people. This is why the Gospels call both him and his son in law High Priests.
Born 42 BC. He reigned from AD 14 to 37.
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities XVIII.2.2 With his father in law, Annas (Ananus ben Seth), he would preside over the Sanhedrin that condemned Jesus to the Romans in order to seek capital punishment on Him on the charge of sedition for proclaiming Himself a King. These two appear prominently in Gospels as “the high priests.” Though it was Caiaphas who was High Priest, his father in law, Annas held such influence over the religious and political affairs of state that he also was still revered as High Priest though his term had completed years earlier, thus the term, the high priests. These priests were part of the House of Annas, with Annas being its head. This aristocracy would rule the Sanhedrin for decades and would pose the greatest opposition to Nazarene Messianic Judaism of the 1st Century of our Common Era.
He would serve ten tumultuous years as governor/procurator, from A.D. 26 to 36.
Acts 1:9.
Acts 2:1-41.