HOLY WEEK: Rome

While this will probably be a somewhat anticlimactic post, I have always found this conversation to be one worth wrestling with. It seems that in our efforts to correct some past antisemitic abuses, we have at times overcorrected and made statements that don’t quite jive with the historical setting.

We’ve already addressed the political situation that led to the showdown that fateful week of Passover. In this annual time of political tension, Rome has been flexing its muscles in a way that makes it quite clear: don’t mess with Rome. The man we call Pontius Pilate has been hired for the job of Roman stalwart — a bulldog of a leader who will establish political stability at all costs.

Make no mistake, Jesus has riled up some people throughout this Holy Week. He may have even drawn some attention from Rome with his triumphal entry stunt and the whole group of people waving palm branches. I’m sure the guards in the Antonio Fortress (a Roman guard post overlooking the temple courts — and a glaring statement about the watchful eye of Rome over the Jewish people and their worship) went on alert as Jesus starting flipping over tables on the Temple Mount.

But Jesus wasn’t picking a fight with Rome.

Of course, on one level, that last statement isn’t true. Jesus’s entire ministry has been a statement about the lie of Empire and the promise of a new and better Kingdom. As scholars like Dominic Crossan have pointed out, these are fighting words. You don’t claim to have a Kingdom that stands in opposition to Rome — not without being prepared to pay the consequences.

But Jesus’s teachings have appeared to the world of Rome completely backwards and counterintuitive. Some have used the words “mystic” in connection to the kind of rabbi Jesus was. Jesus wasn’t marching on Rome or leading a revolt with swords or clubs. Jesus wasn’t fighting a worldly war over a worldly kingdom in a worldly way. In fact, it is when Pilate asks Jesus if he is a king, Jesus responds by saying, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight.”

But they aren’t here to wage war on Rome as a political empire.

They ARE here to wage war on Empire itself.

And Empire is showing up in their own house, with their own leadership. Forget about Rome. Jesus marches into the Temple to do some housecleaning of his own.

I’m sure it’s possible that Jesus had Rome’s attention.

But was Rome out to get Jesus?

What kind of a threat is this peasant rabbi who’s been running around telling people to forgive their enemies?

This is most clear in the gospel account of John as we watch Pilate try again and again to find something to accuse Jesus of — and he fails. He then tries again and again to release Jesus, stating he found no fault in him.

Rome tried to laugh this peasant rabbi off. A threat? No way.

But this wasn’t about military power or the threat of a heavenly kingdom. This was about a political threat to the stability of Rome in this region, and the ability of Pilate to keep the region secure. The trial before Pilate isn’t about Jesus; it is the interaction between Pilate and the corrupt religious leaders who saw an imminent threat to their system of power and luxury.

This was a religious mafia making it quite clear: “Pilate, if you don’t execute this man as a terrorist — publicly — we will make this very difficult on you. We will turn this region on its head and let Caesar know who his real friends are.” Listen to what they say in the Text:

From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

This is about politics. This is about corrupted religious power.

Now, to reiterate, this is not an effort to say “the Jews killed Jesus.” Not at all. As we’ve mentioned multiple times before, the Jews responded quite favorably to the teachings and ministry of Jesus. It is clear from the Text above that this coup is being led by the chief priests — not the Jews, not even the priesthood or the Sadducean party, but the chief families in charge of the rule of Ananus.

And so Pilate washes his hands of the situation and caves to the political pressure, a move that does little to let him off the hook.

Putting things in their appropriate place has always been important for me. Maybe it’s because I want to know how to properly understand the situation that led to Jesus’s execution. Maybe it’s because I want to understand the people who called for it and why. Maybe it’s because I want to understand the dangers of religious power and corruption.

Maybe it’s because I have a deep love for the Eastern Church tradition that claims Pilate (who we know nothing about from history after this point) escaped from his service to Rome and fled to Egypt, where he became a follower of Jesus and the leader of the church there.

Call me a sucker for happy endings and a stickler for hope.

But speaking of great endings, it’s about time we talk about this empty tomb thing…

HOLY WEEK: Judas

One of the most interesting characters in the gospels is that of Judas Iscariot. Much is thought of and projected upon this character, and I find a deeper understanding of the (at least possible) cultural setting makes this conversation much more helpful in my learning from the story. Learning from the story would be the reason to study it, rather than simply having “feelings” about the characters. I think learning about the person of Judas is what brings so much humanity to the story, the disciples, and the betrayal of Jesus.

We don’t know a whole lot about Judas until this final week of Jesus’s life. We know Judas is in charge of the money. It becomes clear that the disciples (particularly the writers of the gospels) have identified him as the betrayer. We know he has a least a pseudo-concern for the poor, although John seems to suggest Judas was a thief who would steal from the moneybag.

But what might help us the most is to examine his name, Judas Iscariot. “Iscariot” is a combination of the Hebrew ish (meaning “man”) and Cariot, which gives us “Judas, man from Cariot.” There is ample evidence to suggest this name identifies Judas as a Zealot. Knowing this about Judas could help us learn a ton about him; for instance, this would explain his pseudo-concern for the poor, as the Zealots were increasingly frustrated with the oppression of their Jewish brothers (sympathetic brothers, of course). Zealots were often thieves at heart, believing in a “Robin Hood” mentality of taking what was needed for the greater good. I can even imagine Judas immediately volunteering for the job of treasurer, in contrast to the nasty tax-collector named Levi/Matthew, whom a good Zealot would have hated immensely for everything they represent.

Nevertheless, what this would truly help us understand is the betrayal of Judas himself. It is entirely probable that Judas, after hearing Jesus’s electrified and confrontational teachings directed at the chief priests that week (a group the Zealots hated and typically sought to assassinate), misread Jesus’s intentions — as most of the disciples did — and sought to kick off this inevitable revolution by betraying Jesus into the hands of his enemies, knowing this would spark the revolt he knew was coming.

This would also offer an explanation as to why Judas is so wrecked with guilt that he will commit suicide. He completely misread the situation. When he realizes he has betrayed his rabbi and started a process that led to his execution, he cannot believe his misfortune nor bear his misdeeds.

Peter Rollins (in Fidelity of Betrayal) has gone as far as to suggest that Judas and Jesus had a prearranged agreement, that Jesus had asked Judas to betray him, knowing he would be one of the only ones with enough zeal to pull it off. While I don’t agree with this theory, it does provide some insight into why Jesus says some of the things he says to Judas that night (e.g., “What you need to do, do quickly.”). Again, I’m not sure I see enough in the gospel accounts (and elsewhere) to fully embrace this theory, but I find it interesting to consider.

At any rate, it should be noted that even Judas has a phenomenal commitment to the Text up until his last moment. Have you ever considered why Judas throws his silver coins into the Temple? How does he get in there? You don’t just run into the Temple at night (let alone during the day); of course, Zealots were known for storming the Temple courts and assassinating priests as they served. Consider the words of Zechariah as he denounced the shepherds of God’s people:

The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”

Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD.

I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.

Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

Then the LORD said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.

“Woe to the worthless shepherd,
    who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!
    May his arm be completely withered,
    his right eye totally blinded!”

Judas responds to his plight with grand statements from the Text! How badly we need to know our whole Bibles in order to understand truly the parts that we do read!

But I continue to be struck by the realization that Jesus’s disciples thought they were staging a Zealot-like rebellion the entire time. This wasn’t only Judas’s error. Make no mistake about it: Up until Jesus’s crucifixion (and even after), the disciples are waiting for the great revolution. They think their rabbi is a Zealot. Of course, it’s easy to see how you might take a few of Jesus’s teachings and believe that — Jesus made some electrifying statements.

But it makes me wonder how often I misread the intent of Jesus. It makes me examine how often I might misunderstand what Jesus is trying to do in the world because of how I choose to hear some of his teachings while ignoring the rest.

I continue to be challenged by the story of Judas.

But is he the only betrayer?

HOLY WEEK: Judas

One of the most interesting characters in the gospels is that of Judas Iscariot. Much is thought of and projected upon this character, and I find a deeper understanding of the (at least possible) cultural setting makes this conversation much more helpful in my learning from the story. Learning from the story would be the reason to study it, rather than simply having “feelings” about the characters. I think learning about the person of Judas is what brings so much humanity to the story, the disciples, and the betrayal of Jesus.

We don’t know a whole lot about Judas until this final week of Jesus’s life. We know Judas is in charge of the money. It becomes clear that the disciples (particularly the writers of the gospels) have identified him as the betrayer. We know he has a least a pseudo-concern for the poor, although John seems to suggest Judas was a thief who would steal from the moneybag.

But what might help us the most is to examine his name, Judas Iscariot. “Iscariot” is a combination of the Hebrew ish (meaning “man”) and Cariot, which gives us “Judas, man from Cariot.” There is ample evidence to suggest this name identifies Judas as a Zealot. Knowing this about Judas could help us learn a ton about him; for instance, this would explain his pseudo-concern for the poor, as the Zealots were increasingly frustrated with the oppression of their Jewish brothers (sympathetic brothers, of course). Zealots were often thieves at heart, believing in a “Robin Hood” mentality of taking what was needed for the greater good. I can even imagine Judas immediately volunteering for the job of treasurer, in contrast to the nasty tax-collector named Levi/Matthew, whom a good Zealot would have hated immensely for everything they represent.

Nevertheless, what this would truly help us understand is the betrayal of Judas himself. It is entirely probable that Judas, after hearing Jesus’s electrified and confrontational teachings directed at the chief priests that week (a group the Zealots hated and typically sought to assassinate), misread Jesus’s intentions — as most of the disciples did — and sought to kick off this inevitable revolution by betraying Jesus into the hands of his enemies, knowing this would spark the revolt he knew was coming.

This would also offer an explanation as to why Judas is so wrecked with guilt that he will commit suicide. He completely misread the situation. When he realizes he has betrayed his rabbi and started a process that led to his execution, he cannot believe his misfortune nor bear his misdeeds.

Peter Rollins (in Fidelity of Betrayal) has gone as far as to suggest that Judas and Jesus had a prearranged agreement, that Jesus had asked Judas to betray him, knowing he would be one of the only ones with enough zeal to pull it off. While I don’t agree with this theory, it does provide some insight into why Jesus says some of the things he says to Judas that night (e.g., “What you need to do, do quickly.”). Again, I’m not sure I see enough in the gospel accounts (and elsewhere) to fully embrace this theory, but I find it interesting to consider.

At any rate, it should be noted that even Judas has a phenomenal commitment to the Text up until his last moment. Have you ever considered why Judas throws his silver coins into the Temple? How does he get in there? You don’t just run into the Temple at night (let alone during the day); of course, Zealots were known for storming the Temple courts and assassinating priests as they served. Consider the words of Zechariah as he denounced the shepherds of God’s people:

The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”

Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD.

I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.

Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

Then the LORD said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.

“Woe to the worthless shepherd,
    who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!
    May his arm be completely withered,
    his right eye totally blinded!”

Judas responds to his plight with grand statements from the Text! How badly we need to know our whole Bibles in order to understand truly the parts that we do read!

But I continue to be struck by the realization that Jesus’s disciples thought they were staging a Zealot-like rebellion the entire time. This wasn’t only Judas’s error. Make no mistake about it: Up until Jesus’s crucifixion (and even after), the disciples are waiting for the great revolution. They think their rabbi is a Zealot. Of course, it’s easy to see how you might take a few of Jesus’s teachings and believe that — Jesus made some electrifying statements.

But it makes me wonder how often I misread the intent of Jesus. It makes me examine how often I might misunderstand what Jesus is trying to do in the world because of how I choose to hear some of his teachings while ignoring the rest.

I continue to be challenged by the story of Judas.

But is he the only betrayer?

HOLY WEEK: The Plot to Kill Jesus

The conversation about “who killed Jesus” is a very electric topic that you don’t dive into hastily. With so much antisemitism that swirls under the surface, handling this question can be a ticking time bomb. Nevertheless, it is interesting to make some very basic observations about what gets Jesus in so much trouble.

Without a doubt, I will not let Rome off the hook in this story, but I want to deal with Rome and Pilate in a later post, so I won’t talk about them here. There is no question that Rome plays a part in the crucifixion of Jesus. They have to: The Jewish leadership does not have the judicial authority to execute prisoners by crucifixion. So, at the very least, Rome authorizes the death of Jesus.

But what gets Jesus in trouble is something far deeper than the Roman authorities. This would be the perfect place to go back and review our lesson that explained the context of the Sadducees and the chief priests.

There are a few things that should be stated right up front:

“The Jews” didn’t kill Jesus. This has been one of the most destructive misinterpretations of history the world has ever seen. Millions of Jews have been slaughtered in the name of this false idea. All throughout the gospels, it is clear the Jewish people loved, adored, and even revered Jesus. The plot to kill Jesus hinges completely upon executing Jesus outside the eye of the Jewish public so they won’t rebel against the Jewish leaders. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the phrase, “Jesus entered Jerusalem to cheers from the crowd only to be crucified by them a week later.” To be very clear, it was not the same crowd. Jesus is arrested, tried, and beaten by a corrupt body of ruling priests and their “mafia-style justice.”

Even though the Pharisees helped arrange this plot (at least a few of them did), the Pharisees were not the ones who led the charge in this execution. This is completely unappreciated in our teachings. The Pharisees and the Sadducees despised each other! That they would work together to conspire against Jesus is incredible culturally. It makes me think the Pharisees involved were as corrupt as the chief priests. One must keep in mind that the Pharisees tried to save Jesus’s life more than once earlier on in his ministry.

It is the chief priests who conspire against Jesus and arrange his execution. It’s worth noticing that Jesus spends three years confronting the Pharisees within every corner of their theology and survives to tell the tale, and even continues to engage them in their methods up until his death. Compare that to the fact Jesus spends less than one week confronting the corrupt rule of the chief priests and he gets himself killed. This is why Jesus knows he is going to die in Jerusalem. It’s not because he has his “God goggles” on, looking into the future; it’s because he knows he is headed into Jerusalem to confront the injustice of the religious mafia — and nobody survives to tell that tale.

Once we have an understanding of the corruption that lied behind the execution of Jesus, it helps us appreciate the story on so many levels.

Why Jesus is tried by the “Sanhedrin”? Josephus told us there were two groups of Sanhedrin: there was the formal ruling body made up of Sadducees and Pharisees, and there was the the informal back-door Sanhedrin who met in the home of the chief priest. They made decisions that were later “ratified” in the formal body. That’s how this corruption operated. Where was Jesus tried? In the home of the chief priest. This is not the formal Sanhedrin, but the informal one.

This helps us see why the trial of Jesus is so corrupt, breaking over fifteen commandments held by Jewish teaching about how to conduct an investigation and hold a trial appropriately. They break all of these rules because they don’t care. They are the chief priests.

This will help us understand the political sway that this group will hold over Pilate later. 

This will help us understand many things. My recommendation would be to go back and read the story again, realizing that the “chief priests” are corrupt families running a completely corrupt Temple system.

But now we need to discuss the betrayer who assists in bringing this plan to action.

Faithful and Wise Steward (part one)

On their way out of Jerusalem for the day, the disciples begin commenting on how amazing Herod’s building project is. At this point in history, the entirety of the Temple Mount had not been completed and this immense structure would still be astounding to behold. Jesus responds to his impressed disciples that, in fact, destruction is sitting on the doorstep of Jerusalem, describing how not one stone will be left upon another. Later, his disciples come to him and begin asking him about timelines. Exactly when is this destruction supposed to come?

And with that we are launched into one of the most intensely discussed discourses surrounding the “end times.” We immediately click into our “when-is-Jesus-coming-back-and-how-do-we-tell-the-future” mentality, drowning in all the details. I can remember writing a paper in Bible college on the teaching in Matthew 24 and the argument about which part of the chapter was talking about what. Was the entire conversation about the end times? Was the first part about the destruction of Jerusalem and the last part about the end times? If so, when does the shift take place in Jesus’s discourse?

So, before we even get started, let me make the case up front: This entire discourse is about the destruction of Jerusalem. That is the topic that got Jesus into this conversation, that is the topic that sits at the center of the conversation, and there is nothing in Jesus’s words that would warrant a shift in subject matter. In fact, to turn this into a dialogue about the end times would completely ignore Jesus’s closing points about not knowing the future.

Nevertheless, let’s walk through the passage and try to see how Jesus interacts with this question from the disciples. They want to know, “When is all of this destruction going to take place?” Jesus responds:

“Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.”

Jesus’s point: You are going to hear rumors about coming destruction and false messiahs who will promise deliverance. Do not be deceived. The world is going to get crazy. This is unavoidable.

He continues:

“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.

“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

“Immediately after the distress of those days

“ ‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

After quoting the book of Daniel, Jesus continues to use multiple prophetic images from the Nevi’im that speak about coming destruction (mainly of ancient Babylon) as a parallel to the coming destruction from Rome. Jesus quotes prophets whose messages will be of perseverance. He reiterates, You are going to have to persevere through these tough times; there will be no escaping it.

Jesus then continues with more confirmation of these points to his disciples:

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Please notice that Jesus’s point is that nobody will be ready for this coming destruction. Nobody can tell the future and destruction always comes when people least expect it. Jesus’s point is, Keep watch and be ready, because you do not know when this will happen.

But all of this might raise the question: What are supposed to be ready for? What are we supposed to be ready with? How do I make sure I am doing what I need to do to be ready?

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

This teaching is a little tricky, but pretty straightforward, especially in the context of the last few days and a withered fig tree in the distance. The answer to the question about the steward is easy. The faithful and wise steward represents the priests. However, as we have seen, they are certainly not getting the job done.

If we see this discourse as one conversation given in response to the disciples’ question, it helps us see the packaged answer Jesus gives them, without getting lost in our infatuations with the end times. Jesus’s response would sound something like this:

You’re going to hear rumors of the end and false messiahs; do not believe it.

The world is going to get crazy and there is nothing you can do to stop it.

All of this is going to have to happen and you will have to persevere.

You will have to be ready; being ready means taking care of God’s people.

The priests aren’t doing it, so you will have to.

Persevere and be ready by taking care of the oppressed.

Of course, as always, Jesus isn’t done. He has some parables to throw on top of this teaching…

Six or Seven?

It seems that while the Pharisees are taking this information about Jesus’s yoke, Jesus doesn’t even give them time to set up a trap. Suddenly going on the offensive against the Pharisees now (it was the Sadducees earlier), Jesus gives them a real brain-teaser that apparently stumps the teachers so much that “no one dared to ask him any more questions.”

But Jesus isn’t about to let them off the hook. Having just made a minor public spectacle of some highly trained teachers, Jesus turns to the crowds and his disciples saying:

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

It should be noted that Jesus does affirm the place of these teachers within Jewish society. He affirms their devotion to obedience and the soundness of their teaching, along with their commitment to the Text. The thing that Jesus appears to have a problem with is their interaction, expectation, and dealings with other people. He doesn’t like how they tie up expectations and load up the guilt without doing anything to help relieve people of their burdens. He also isn’t a fan of how they seem to put their righteousness on display in order to receive the approval of men. Instead, he’s wanting to call people to serve one another, not impress them.

However, Jesus has some tough things to say to the Pharisees in the crowd that day:

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. 

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.”

Now, for the Jewish listener, the moment you heard a teacher prophetically give a list of woes, you are going to think of Isaiah immediately. In chapter 5, Isaiah gives his own list of woes.

Woe to those who join house to house,    who add field to field,until there is no more room,    and you are made to dwell alone    in the midst of the land.The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing:“Surely many houses shall be desolate,    large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,    and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”

Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
    that they may run after strong drink,
who tarry late into the evening
    as wine inflames them!
They have lyre and harp,
    tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD,
    or see the work of his hands.

Therefore my people go into exile
    for lack of knowledge;
their honored men go hungry,
    and their multitude is parched with thirst.
Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
    and opened its mouth beyond measure,
and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down,
    her revelers and he who exults in her.
Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
    and the eyes of the haughty are brought low.
But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice,
    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture,
    and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
    who draw sin as with cart ropes,
who say: “Let him be quick,
    let him speed his work
    that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
    and let it come, that we may know it!”

Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
    and shrewd in their own sight!

Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
    and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of his right!

If one were to compare these two lists of denouncements, they would notice the kind of person described is quite different. Go ahead, take a second to look at Isaiah 5 and ask the question, “What kind of person is being condemned?” Then, ask the same question of Matthew 23.

What did you find?

I do this exercise with my students and they never fail to articulate the same thing. Isaiah’s woes describe a person who is wrapped up in selfishness and greed. It’s a disgusting picture of a person who has completely lost the plot of God’s story. They oppress others, serve self, and live for injustice. The woes of Matthew 23 describe a person who is self-righteous.

But did you notice? Extra credit to anyone who counted the woes.

In Isaiah, there are six woes; an appropriate number for woes that are denouncing sin, right? But in Jesus’s denouncement, there are seven.

Jesus’s point: “You have perfected the art of evil and sin.”

Do you know what’s even worse than a greedy person? A self-righteous person.

How can you possibly take sin and greed and take it to the next level? You can become a cold, self-righteous “know-it-all” who actually destroys the work of God. This is why self-righteousness is so significant. These people claim to speak for God, yet they put a completely counterfeit version of God on display to the world around them. It’s even worse than the sin of greed, because at least people know greed when they see it.

By inserting a seventh woe, Jesus says they have completed the sin of their forefathers. This is evidenced further by reading Jesus’s closing to this denouncement:

“Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”

Jesus says, “Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.” 

In the NIV, Jesus says,”Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started.”

It’s a striking warning that I try to be reminded of frequently. I belong to a generation bent on restoring justice to the world we live in. We cringe at the idea of greed and the oppression of the weak. Yet, if we are not careful, we can be in danger of an even greater sin. We have been repentant of the greed and waste and destruction of our forefathers. We have seen the abuse of the earth, the abuse of aliens and slaves, the abuse of resources, the abuse of power. We must be very careful not to miss the pride that lurks under the surface of our self-righteousness. We must work to hear the words of Jesus warning us to make sure we see ALL people, help and serve ALL people, and pursue humility in our walk after God.

Let’s not perfect the art of sin.

Let’s not complete what our fathers started.

Image and Inscription

** I am indebted to Ray VanderLaan for much of the teaching in this post.

Apparently, in the midst of this story telling from Jesus during this week, these spiritual leaders decide it’s time to go on the offensive. The Pharisees and Sadducees work together (which is almost unfathomable; the two parties cannot stand each other) to try and trap Jesus in order to remove him from his place of influence.

One of the great Jewish debates of Jesus’s day was the debate that swirled around paying “taxes.” These “great debates” were fueled in large part by two rabbinic voices we haven’t talked about much. However, to understand the context of these two rabbinical schools is to have a much clearer perspective on the Jewish world of Jesus.

In the rabbinical generation that preceded Jesus, there were two rabbis who argued vehemently about the great Jewish debates. As we’ve seen, there was a conservative rabbi who held an interpretation of the law driven by the priorities of obedience (more on this in a later post). His name was Shammai. In the other corner was a rabbi who held to a much more progressive interpretation revolving around love for one’s neighbor. His name was Hillel. These two worldviews competed passionately over the interpretation of the law in matters of great debate.

Nevertheless, in order to understand the context of the debate about taxes, we need to first point out that the real issue isn’t about taxes at all. The gospel of Luke seems to give us clues by choosing the Greek word kensos to speak of taxes. The King James Version translates this more accurately as “tribute.” The debate isn’t asking about paying taxes as you and I would be familiar with paying taxes. In fact, the tribute they speak of was a particular coin that every resident in the Roman world was expected to purchase. This tribute coin could be used as a “receipt” that proved you had paid tribute to Caesar and to Rome. Upon validation of this receipt, you could be given incense at any number of different outposts where tribute was paid. You would offer the incense — and your worship — to Caesar.

Ruins of the temple at Omrit, just south of Caesarea Philippi

It should be worth noting that we have uncovered one of three tribute temples constructed by Herod the Great less than two miles from Caesarea Philippi, where the disciples have recently been, before Jesus set his course toward Jerusalem.

Now, understanding this context helps us understand the question being debated. It’s not just about paying money; the question is about idol worship. Realize that amongst the differing Jewish responses we’ve looked at before, there would have been differing opinions.

HERODIAN: “Sure, pay the tribute; God knows what’s in your heart.”

SADDUCEE: “Of course. Do you know what Rome gives us? Don’t make them angry!”

ESSENE: “You don’t have to pay tribute when you live out here in the desert…”

ZEALOT: “Anyone who offers tribute deserves to die!”

The PHARISEES, however, were split on the issue, depending on whether they held to Shammai or Hillel’s interpretation. Shammai Pharisees would have claimed this is an issue of idolatry and obedience demands we not purchase the coin. However, Hillel had a much different interpretation. Pointing to the book of Jeremiah and showing that God says He was using Nebuchadnezzar (one of the most brutal tyrants in human history) to do His will and the kingdom was being given to him, Hillel said that the ruling authorities are put in place by God. Therefore, when one buys the tribute coin, they are not taking part in idolatry, but simply giving back to the ruler what God has decided in His sovereign will to give him in the first place.

Notice the trap they set for Jesus:

Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”

In this sole mention of the Herodians, it is pointed out that they are conspiring along with the Hasidim, the very people who have an opposing worldview. They are setting Jesus up for failure. No matter how he answers, he’s going to make one of the groups angry; he’s either going to look like a compromising idolator or he’ll lose favor with the people.

But Jesus is a brilliant teacher.

He asks somebody to give him a coin — which is a really funny move. They are standing on the Temple Mount, where it is unlawful in Judaism to have Roman currency. In the words of my teacher, this is like a person questioning your position on pornography, and in response you ask for a Playboy and somebody hands you one. You’ve now shown the teacher where you fall in the argument, but he still hasn’t told you anything about his own opinion. We would assume one of the Herodians produced the coin, but still, that’s funny.

Jesus wants to know two things: whose image and whose inscription?

Now the image will be of Caesar and the inscription is going to speak of the divinity and worship of Caesar as a divine god. The tribute coin I have seen in person contains the inscription, “The worshipped son of a worshipped god.”

The people answer, “It’s Caesar’s inscription.”

The implication here is an unspoken question: Whose image and whose inscription is on you?

And in a stunning moment fit for a poetry slam, Jesus declares, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but give to God what is God’s.” Actually, the King James Version will nail the translation again with the word “render.” The word render means “to give back.” Jesus uses Hillel’s position, but not without making it crystal clear that your worship belongs to God and God alone.

In other words, Jesus says, “Give Caesar his stupid coin, but don’t you EVER give him your worship!”

**mic drop**

And in that moment, every group is challenged by his words. The Herodians. The Shammai Pharisees. The Hillel Pharisees. The Sadducees. The Zealots.

It’s brilliant.

It challenges us, as well. It challenges us to consider the things we pledge allegiance to. It challenges us to consider the things that become the object of our hope — and our worship. It challenges us to wonder whether there can be another Empire other than God’s.

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.