Killing Jesus: A History

Jesus leaves Bethany for Jerusalem. On the way, he attempts to pick fruit from a fig tree, but finds none, because figs are not in season. Jesus curses the tree, an act which the disciples attribute to Jesus’s anxiety over his plans for that day. Upon entering the city, Jesus becomes aware of the heightened vigilance of the Jewish establishment and the Roman soldiers in Jerusalem. Undeterred, Jesus heads to the Temple and begins to flip the money changers’ tables and release sacrificial doves from their cages. He is “methodical,” not angry. The Temple guards want to arrest him for this act of civil disobedience, but they see that the crowd of people is supporting Jesus. If they arrested him, the crowd might riot. So they leave him alone, as Jesus accepts praise from children in the crowd and compares the Temple establishment to forces of evil.

Later, the Jewish high priest Caiaphas reflects in his luxurious home. He has heard many disturbing reports of the “revolutionary” Jesus. He believes that Jesus is a false prophet and feels empowered by Jewish law to destroy him by any means necessary. He realizes that Jesus purposefully chose the week of Passover to enter the city, since the support of the crowds of common people would prevent his arrest. Caiaphas knows that, if he does not find a solution to Jesus before Passover, he might be dismissed from his post and lose his status. He resolves to solve the problem before Passover begins in four days.

Jesus and his disciples enter the home of Lazarus to a warm welcome. Lazarus’s sisters, Martha and Mary, “dote” on Jesus. They wash the feet of Jesus and his disciples and feed them well. Lazarus, most likely a landowning farmer, is prepared to house Jesus and his followers throughout the whole week of Passover. The next morning, Jesus heads with his disciples to Jerusalem to teach at the Temple courts again. They pass the fig tree that Jesus cursed, and the disciples marvel at its shriveled roots. Jesus enters the Temple courts with his followers. His clothes are dusty from the road, a stark contrast to the wealthy priests and Pharisees. Once he begins teaching, chief priests challenge his authority to do so. Jesus asks them whether John’s baptism derives its authority from heaven or from men. Aware that the question is a trap, either validating John’s status as a prophet or indicating their fear of the people’s power, they answer that they don’t know. Jesus tells them that tax collectors and sex workers knew the answer to this question before they did and therefore will enter the kingdom of heaven before the priests. News of Jesus’s “intellectual victory” (203) spreads, and soon the Temple courts are full of listeners. The priests use several different strategies to try to trip Jesus up and trap him into criticizing Rome or upholding one Jewish religious law above another. Jesus escapes their traps, and in front of the whole crowd calls the high priests and Pharisees hypocrites. He accuses them of “missing the true heart of God’s law” (206) by focusing on superficial details and pursuing wealth and status.

Later, he speaks to his disciples on the Mount of Olives. He tells them many parables, then warns them that after his death they will be hated, persecuted, and killed for his sake. This message disturbs his followers.

Meanwhile, the priests and Pharisees gather at Caiaphas’s house, demanding that Jesus be taken off the streets. They know they have little time, since no trials can be held during the week of Passover, which is in two days. Also, the priests fear that the people will riot if they hear that Jesus has been arrested, so they are determined to keep the matter quiet.

Judas walks into Jerusalem from the house of Lazarus by himself. He is disturbed by yesterday’s sermon, in which Jesus prophesied that the disciples would be hated and persecuted. He is also angered by Jesus’s defense of Mary, Lazarus’s sister who poured expensive perfume on Jesus in what Judas believed was a waste of money. Judas decides that he needs “to force Jesus’s hand” (209). He reasons that if he betrays Jesus, it will either force him to admit that he is the Messiah and save himself with his divine power, or it will prove that Jesus is a liar, and cause his death. Either way, Judas’s life will be spared. He heads to the home of Caiaphas, the leader of the Sanhedrin. Caiaphas is very interested in meeting with a rogue disciple of the troublesome Jesus. Judas asks what they would give him for turning Jesus over, and they reply that they will pay him thirty silver coins, the equivalent of four months’ wages. Judas and Caiaphas agree to stay in contact so that they can arrange the arrest. Aware of the risk of discovery, Judas walks back to Lazarus’s house, prepared to hide his deception from Jesus and the other disciples until the very last moment.

Jesus is overwhelmed by all the tasks he has to handle before his impending death. The prospect of his death is also causing him to panic. Meanwhile, the entire city of Jerusalem is preparing for Passover by purchasing lambs and purging each house of any trace of leavened bread. Pilate looks forward to Passover, since he thinks the Jewish leaders will avoid his gentile home and give him some peace.

Judas watches Jesus, waiting for the right time to send word to Caiaphas. He wants to keep the arrest quiet and quick to avoid the risk of riots breaking out.

Next to the Temple is the Antonia Fortress, where Roman troops are garrisoned. With Tiberius’s arrival for Passover, the soldier population swells from 500 to thousands. Twelve of these men are members of three crucifixion death squads, each known as a quaternio. Aware that their actions will be watched and possibly punished if seen as lenient, the soldiers are determined to show no mercy to the prisoners set to be crucified. The three prisoners are Barabbas, a murderer, and his two accomplices.

Jesus leads his followers back to Jerusalem for their final meal together. He begins the meal by washing his disciples’ feet, an act that displays remarkable humility and love to his disciples, who are moved. The mood changes when Jesus announces that one of them at the table will betray him. The disciples question one another. Judas slips away, aware that Jesus knows his intentions but will apparently not betray him. Jesus leads the rest of the disciples to the garden at Gethsemane and goes off by himself to pray and ask for deliverance from God.

Judas arrives at the garden with Temple guards in tow. He signals Jesus’s identity to the guards by kissing him, and Jesus is taken away by the guards, warning the rest of his disciples not to fight back. It is the middle of the night, and no trial can legally be held until the morning, so the disciples think there is some time to regroup and figure out a strategy to free him. However, in contradiction to Jewish legal custom, the guards take Jesus directly to the house of the high priest Annas for an impromptu interrogation.