Killing Jesus by Stephen Mansfield

Jesus came from the Galilee, and because of that, he was more rugged and independent than the people of Jerusalem. The Hellenized gentry and the priests (who were probably Hellenized too) didn’t like this bumpkin Rabbi from up north, nor did they like any Rabbi who had ideas of his own. But up in the north, Joshua Son of Joseph was out of reach!

Stephen Mansfield’s book is the most straightforward work on Jesus that I’ve read so far. I love the way he portrays the conflict between Jesus and the people of Jerusalem as a conflict between the simple (and often more religious) folks and the genteel urbane city people. He believes that the killing of Jesus was the work of corrupt priests, who were getting rich off of bribes, taxes, and kickbacks from the money-changers. They didn’t take kindly to Jesus showing up in the capital and chasing all the marketers out of the Temple grounds.

There are, however, some things that the author left out, and that is the origin of the Temple’s corruption. The Kohen Gadol (high priest) at the time was Ciaphas (from the Aramaic “Bar Kapha” meaning “son of a monkey”) and he was not the legitimate Kohen Gadol. The reason is that 140 years earlier, when the Macabees reconquered Jerusalem, they started tampering with the Kehunah, appointing men who had blood on their hands to oversee the Temple services. By the time Jesus was born, the Kehunah had been corrupt for years, and anyone could become a Kohen if they paid enough of a bribe. As for the Temple itself, was it the Lord’s beautiful house, or was it a monument to Herod’s megalomania? Some Jewish scholars today believe that the Temple was not holy at all. Herod was a murderer, and a murderer can’t be trusted to make anything sacred. Regardless of whether the Temple was truly sacred, or whether the Kohanim had a right to their jobs, one thing is clear. The faithful pilgrims who thronged to the Beit Hamikdash were nothing but profit.

Indeed, there was a conspiracy to kill Jesus. It wasn’t the work of Rome (why would they care?) nor the entire Jewish community. It was the work of the corrupt puppet clergy who sold out their people to the Romans. Any Rabbi will tell you that Jesus was innocent; he never claimed to be anything he wasn’t. As for Ciaphas, he had no right to question Jesus, because the Torah prohibits the Kohanim from getting involved in civil affairs, let alone sit on a court.

Today, the Temple courtyard still throngs with the faithful, who come to pray at the Western Wall (built by King Herod, no less.) Just like in the time of Jesus, there are lots of religious hucksters who offer blessings in exchange for money. There are probably money changers too. Only this time there’s no need to chase them out. The clergy aren’t getting any kickbacks.