Month: April 2021

One was the wife of a high-ranking palace official, watching the inner workings of a reckless ruler.  The other was the wife of a governor appointed by the most powerful man in the world.  On one fateful Friday, they both crossed paths with one who held no political power but was accused of being a king.  Their names were Joanna and Procula, wives of political insiders and witnesses of the trial and death of Jesus of Nazareth.  Together, they represent the faithfulness of the women in both the region of Galilee and the city of Jerusalem. 

Our story begins with not with Joanna and Jesus, but rather Herod Antipas and John the Baptist.  Following the death of King Herod the Great, Caesar Augustus decided the Kingdom of Jews needed to be broken up with the sons of Herod given smaller pieces of the kingdom while a Roman governor controlled the lion’s share of the province of Judea with its Holy City of Jerusalem.  Herod Antipas was given the small province of Galilee to rule and to make a name for himself. 

And oh, how he did.  He broke the heart of his first wife, an Arabian princess, by abandoning her and stealing his brother Phillip’s wife, Herodias.  Such a scandal had to make life difficult for those who worked near and for Herod Antipas, including his steward Chuza and his wife Joanna.  I doubt Joanna enjoyed being near Herodias or her daughter Salome.  Being a righteous person, she disapproved how her husband’s boss Herod Antipas had stolen and incestuously married Herodias, his brother’s ex-wife and niece.   She had to bite her tongue.  John the Baptist didn’t.  He called out Herod Antipas for his marital sins.  Herodias had Herod Antipas to place John the Baptist in the dungeon.  She wanted John the Baptist to be executed. 

But Herod Antipas had respect for John the Baptist, “knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him. Herod was greatly disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so, he liked to listen to him.” (Mark 6:29 NLT).  Perhaps Chuza and Joanna were present when Herod Antipas spoke to John the Baptist.  Unfortunately, they were probably also present at Herod Antipas’s birthday party when “ his high government officials, army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee” were present.  Salome performed a risqué dance that greatly pleased her great-uncle.  When he promised her anything, Salome and her mother Herodias saw their chance.  They asked for the head of John the Baptist.  Chuza and Joanna were horrified when Salome came prancing and dancing with the head of John on a platter. 

But John’s life was not in vain.  Joanna had listened carefully as John spoke about one who was coming after him.  Joanna found Jesus who healed her of her disease.  Out of gratitude and love, Joanna and several other women joined Jesus for one of his tours and provided financial reports.  As Luke puts it, “Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.” (Luke 8:1-3 NLT). 

Word even reached back to Herod Antipas that Joanna and others had been healed by Jesus.  But who was this Jesus?  Luke picks up the story with “When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead.  Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead. ‘I beheaded John,’ Herod said, ‘so who is this man about whom I hear such stories?’ And he kept trying to see him.” (Luke 9:7-9 NLT). 

Things came ahead during the fateful week of Passover. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday. Throughout the week, Jesus is preaching and teaching in the Temple where all can hear him, the men and women, Jews and foreign tourists.  Among the visitors with her Jewish aides providing translation was Lady Procula, wife of Roman governor Pontius Pilate.  Pilate and Procula usually spent their time at the port city of Caesarea, but they would come to Jerusalem during the Jewish festivals to keep tabs on things. 

On Friday, both ladies crossed paths with Jesus.  For Joanna, it was when Jesus was delivered by Pilate to Herod Antipas for judgement.  Joanna and Chuza watched as Herod Antipas questioned Jesus.  Then they saw Antipas and his soldiers mock Jesus before sending him back to Pilate. 

Back at Pilate’s Jerusalem headquarters, Procula was watching her husband creating a bigger legal mess with the trial of Jesus. Procula did not have a political position, but she had some wifely wisdom.  She wrote Pilate a note, “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.” (Matthew 27:19 NLT).  Pilate, despite finding Jesus not guilty, gave into pollical pressure and sentenced Jesus to death. 

Luke tells us that as Jesus is bearing the cross beam down the Via Delarosa to Calvary that “a large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women.”  These were the local women of Jerusalem who had listened to Jesus when he would make his various pilgrimages to Jerusalem.  Jesus being with Jesus though, deflected and reflected.  Earlier that week on Palm Sunday, the people in Jerusalem were rejoicing as Jesus rode the donkey, just as the prophet Zechariah foretold, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9 NRSV).  But the time for rejoicing was over.  Now was the time of mourning.  Jesus filled with sympathy turns to the women of Jerusalem and warns, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:28-31 NLT).  Jesus was looking past his pain and warning Jerusalem once again about the future.  If the Romans will execute the Prince of Peace, what would they do to today’s children, forty years from now, when they rashly rise and declare war against Rome? 

At the crucifixion, we find that friends were standing at a distance while family members were at the foot of the cross. John’s gospel tells us that “standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene.” (John 19: 25 NLT).  Matthew tells us that “And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and [Salome] the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee.” (Matthew 27:55-56 NLT).  Luke, while not naming specific individuals, shows that they stayed until the bitter end: “And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.” (Luke 23:48-49 NLT). 

It was these Galilean women who followed the body of Jesus to see where it would lay.  They rushed back to prepare spices for the burial, but they ran out of time.  The sun had set; and the Sabbath had begun.  (Luke 23:55-56).  It would have been easy for them to walk away.  But their love for Jesus was such that they wanted to perform one last act of generosity.  They wanted to give Jesus the proper send off. 

The ladies were in for a surprise.  On a Sunday morning, they were informed by an angel that Jesus is risen from the dead. Luke tells us that “Then they remembered that he had said this. So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women [including Salome] who told the apostles what had happened. But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it.”  (Luke 24:8-11 NLT).  More significant than seeing the angel, they saw the risen Jesus. 

What a joyful surprise that must have been for Joanna.  She had been healed by Jesus, she supported Jesus, she traveled with Jesus, and she was with Jesus to the very end. And in her mind, she thought that Jesus had met a violent end just like John the Baptist.  What Joanna didn’t realize was that in her last act of kindness, she was going to become one of the first witnesses to the Resurrection.  She would be a witness that Jesus had lived, taught, healed, died, and was buried.  She would also be the witness to say that the tomb was empty, and she had met the risen Lord.   

It is for these acts of generosity and compassion, that Joanna and her Galilean friends, and Lady Procula and the women of Jerusalem, are heroines of the Easter story.  Instead of focusing on what they couldn’t do, they focused on what they could do for Jesus.

In tribute to the Oscars, we’re going to give out some Oscar awards to the many men, women, and moments who have used media to bring the Bible to the masses through the silver screen, the television screen, as well as audio recordings. I hope you enjoy some of the behind-the-scenes drama behind these spiritual endeavors! 

Best Baby – Fraser Heston.  On February 12, 1955, Fraser Heston was born to proud parents Lydia and Charlton Heston.  Soon afterwards, Lydia received the most unusual telegram.  “CONGRATULATIONS: HE’S CAST IN THE PART.”  The telegram was from legendary director Cecil B. DeMille.  Thus, newborn Fraser was cast as the part of baby Moses in 1956 The Ten Commandments. Fraser did great and did not cry even when the basket began to sink.  Heston was also in the water in his swimming trunks.  The nurse provided by the labor department informed Heston that “No one can handle him except me.”  Heston later wrote, “I summoned the voice I had only recently used to face down Pharoah, ‘Give me that child,’ I said softly. She did.” 

Best Easter Villain – Frank Thring.  This Australian actor got to play two Easter villains in Biblical epics.  First, he played the philosophical Pontius Pilate presiding the chariot race in 1959 Ben-Hur and then as the scheming Herod Antipas in 1961 King of Kings. 

Most Seasonal – H.B. Warner.  H.B. Warner was a long career, but felt that he had been type casted when he portrayed Jesus in the 1927 King of Kings directed by Cecil DeMille.  When Cecil DeMille made his last film, 1956 The Ten Commandments, he arranged for the very weak H.B. Warner to be brought to the set and be filmed for a cameo as the elderly Amminadab who dies before being able to plant a tree in the Promised Land.  Thus, sharp eye viewers will recognize him both at Easter AND Christmas – at Easter as the dying old man in The Ten Commandmentsand at Christmas as the kindly drugstore owner Mr. Gower in 1946 It’s A Wonderful Life.  You see, Mr. Warner, you did have a wonderful film career! 

Best Touching Performance – Sir Laurence Oliver. Laurence Oliver brought Shakespeare to the big screen for many Americans.  With his mastery of Elizabethan English, he was a natural fit for the King James Version Bible.  He recorded a series of LP records of readings from the Old Testament and Apocrypha.  In 1977’s Jesus of Nazarethminiseries, he gave a powerful performance as the open minded and open-hearted Nicodemus.  When asked by a reporter if he was the “star” of the miniseries, Sir Oliver replied, “’There is only one star here, the star of Bethlehem.” 

Most Moral Authority – Finlay Currie.  Finlay Currie with his Scottish actor was delightful in playing supporting characters in movies, especially ones with moral authority. He portrayed the Apostle Peter in 1951 Quo Vadiscomforting the martyrs in Rome, the wiseman Balthasar in the 1959 Ben-Hur searching for the now fully grown Jesus, and as the troubled Pope who is encouraged by a young animal loving monk in the 1961 Francis of Assisi. 

Best New Testament Villain – Sir Peter Ustinov.  Peter Ustinov was always a joy to watch on the screen, especially as a historical character, and especially as a villain.  He played the mad Emperor Nero persecuting Christians in 1951 Quo Vadis and King Herod the Great the villain of Christmas in 1977 Jesus of Nazareth.  He “redeemed” himself, however, in his final film appearance, 2003 Luther, as Frederick the Wise, the German prince who protected Martin Luther.  He made for a great Frederick, while Joseph Fiennes was a rather boring Luther. 

Best Christmas Villain – Christopher Plummer.  Another joy to watch on the screen, Christopher Plummer was irritated that he was always being associated with The Sound of Music, a Julie Andrews movie.   He made for a lustful, but guilt-ridden Herod Antipas in 1977 Jesus of Nazareth.   He was the narrator for the 2003 The Gospel of John, a word-for-word filming of the fourth gospel.  In 2017, he played two Christmas villains.  He portrayed Scrooge in The Man who Invented Christmas, a bio pic about Charles Dickens, and he was also the voice of King Herod the Great in the animated movie The Star, thus portraying both the father and the son of a rather maniacal Middle-Eastern monarchy. 

Best Action Scene – The Chariot Race 1956.  This thrilling scene was created by the father-son team of Yakima and Joe Canutt.  Native American Yakima Canutt had made a name for himself in early Hollywood as a stunt man and his son Joe, who was close to Heston’s age, followed his footsteps.  Yakima had trained teams of horses for the race and worked closely with Heston.  Before filming started, Heston confessed, “Yak, I feel comfortable running this team now, but we’re all alone here…I’m not so sure I can cut it with seven other teams out there.”  Yakima replied, “Chuck, you just make sure you stay in the chariot. I guarantee you’re going to win the race.”  For the most dangerous part of the race, Joe Canutt served as Heston’s double.  He was supposed to drive the chariot over the wreckage of another chariot.  Without telling his dad, Joe unfastened his safety harness and flipped out of the chariot.  When director William Wyler saw the footage, he exclaimed, “We have to use to that!”  Yakima argued, “Don’t see how you’re going to do that.  I promised Chuck he’d win the race.  I don’t believe he can catch that chariot on foot.” Thus, Heston learned that he had to film one more close up shot – of him climbing back into his chariot in the middle of the race! 

Best Special Effects – Parting of the Red Sea 1923. Today, most viewers think of Charlton Heston dramatically parting the Red in the Sea in the 1956 The Ten Commandments.  And while that is an impressive sequence, I have to give a slight edge to the original 1923 version.  While not quite as dramatic, it really does look like that God is using his hands to part the waters. 

Best Composer – Miklós Rózsa.  This Hungarian American was a genius at musical scores and had a strong sense of artistic integrity.  He composed the music for both the 1959 Ben-Hur and the 1961 King of Kings.  The 1959 Ben-Hur particularly stands out to me and not just for its rousing intro.  Director William Wyler wisely decided not to show the face of Christ or to have him speak.  Instead, every time Christ appears on the screen, we hear the Christ theme.  For the Sermon on the Mount scene Rózsa created a piece of music that gave the listener the emotional impression that Christ was speaking.  Rózsa displayed his artistic integrity when he refused to give in to his producers who insisted that the tune “Adestes Fideles” (O Come All Ye Faithful) be used for the nativity scene.  Rózsa argued that the tune would be anachronistic and created his own beautiful melody for Bethlehem. 

Best Mother – Martha Scott.  Martha Scott was a talented award-winning actress, often appearing on screen and on stage with Charlton Heston.  She played his wife twice AND his mother twice.  She played Heston’s mother in both 1956 The Ten Commandments and 1959 Ben-Hur.  She also gave Heston moral support on a wing and a prayer in the camp favorite disaster film Airport 1975 where Captain Heston is attempting to land a badly damaged airplane while Scott as Sister Beatrice is praying and Sister Ruth (Helen Reddy) is playing the guitar! 

Best All Around – Charlton Heston.  No surprise here as his name has come up several times on my list.  Heston had a lived a full life on and off the camera.  Through the 50’s and mid 60’s, he was best known for portraying larger than life historical characters.  In the late 60’s, he transitioned into a science fiction/action hero.  In the 80’s, he became better known for his politics.  In the early 90’s, he began to experience a second wind with small but impressive roles in movies like 1993 Tombstone and 1996 Hamlet.  In the late 90’s, he became part of the political debate as the outspoken president of the NRA.  In 2002, he announced that he had Alzheimer’s, passing away in the spring of 2008. 

Forgotten during all the political debate and such was that Heston really did love the Bible, particularly the King James Version with its Shakespeare language.  In film, he portrayed Moses in the 1956 The Ten Commandments, Judah Ben-Hur in the 1959 film, and John the Baptist in 1965 The Greatest Story Ever Told.  He also portrayed other famous Church figures from the Renaissance and Reformation era: Cardinal Richelieu, King Henry VIII, and one of my favorites, Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel in 1965 The Agony and the Ecstasy.  He even starred in a film that at one point had the working title of “Our Second Adam.” While the title was changed, film critic Pauline Kael also saw the Biblical allusion, writing that Charlton Heston “is the perfect American Adam to work off some American guilt feelings or self-hatred on…”  But I still think that the title that they went with was better…..Planet of the Apes.  Heston, who provided the voice of God in The Ten Commandments, also played God in the 1990 comedyAlmost An Angel.  Heston also had a great sense humor as evidenced when he hosted “Saturday Night Live” in 1993 and did a hilarious Ten Commandments bit with Billy Crystal. 

Heston also used his voice for Van Guard records in the late 50’s and early 60’s to record a set of LPS, one based on the five books of Moses and one based on the life of Christ.  In the early 90’s, he produced a miniseries Charlton Heston Presents the Bible for A&E Television in which he presented his favorite Bible stories on location in the Holy Land.  As part of the project, he recorded even more material, especially the Psalms, for CDs.  In 2003, he was also a voice actor for an animated version of Ben-Hur. 

Another forgotten tidbit was that Heston was present for the most famous sermon of the 1960’s.  He and a handful of Hollywood friends were only feet away behind Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. when he gave his famous “I Have a Dream” sermon at the Lincoln Memorial. 

Heston, himself, would have three memorable Oscar moments.  When he won the Best Actor of Ben-Hur, he made a point to thank Christopher Fry.  Christopher Fry had rewritten all the dialogue, but had been denied screen credit by the Writers Guild of America since he didn’t write the original script.  The Writers Guild of America attacked Heston in the newspapers, and Heston coolly answered them.  On a less controversial note, in 1977, he won the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. 

For my third and final and comical Heston Oscar moment, we must turn to the 1973 Academy Awards.  Heston was supposed to open the show by reciting the boring rules of the Academy in a Biblical parody, “In the book of Genesis, it is written that the first day all eligible Academy members are asked to vote for nominations for Best Picture of the Year.  On the second day, the other nominations are made.”  Unfortunately, Heston was no where to be found. In a last second decision, Clint Eastwood was drafted. Eastwood was visibly uncomfortable reading the cue cards with all their Biblical allusions.  At one point, he growled, “Turn the cards, man, this isn’t my gig.”  Much to his relief, a hurried Heston soon appeared on stage.  Heston had suffered a flat tire on his way to the Oscars.  Heston acted like nothing had happened and started from the beginning, but then, realizing the humor of the situation, muttered, “I’ve should have brought my rod.”

He was part of an elite and powerful group.  While often quiet, he would often ask questions in the search of truth and justice.  He had two very different encounters with Jesus – one dealing with birth, one dealing with burial.

His name was Nicodemus.

Following the connection with Jesus and Nicodemus can be somewhat messy.  Nicodemus appears three times in the Gospel of John at pivotal moments in Chapters 3, 7, and 20.  One of those pivotal moments is Chapter 3 after Jesus has cleansed the temple.  If one takes a very literal approach to the Gospel of John, treating it like a modern-day biography, then you’ll think that Jesus cleansed the temple twice – once early on in his ministry and then a second time during Holy Week, and for whatever reason, each Gospel writer only mentions one encounter.  But if we view them as literary gems, then it seems that author of John has purposely moved the Temple Cleansing from the back of the gospel to the front of his gospel, much like how a modern-day movie maker, will use flashbacks and flashforwards to emphasize a point.  The author is seemingly making a contrast between true worship and fake worship.

With that theory in mind, I start out in the autumn of the Jesus’s last year in Jerusalem at the Jewish Feast of Shelters (or Booths) in John 7.  At this point in his career, Jesus has a reputation of either being a fraud or a mighty miracle worker.  He tells his critics “I did one miracle on the Sabbath, and you were amazed.” (John 7:21 NLT) referring to the healing of the lame man by the pool of Bethesda in John 5:1-15.  Later, the author tells us that many people believed in Jesus because, “after all, would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?” (John 7:31).  This line of reasoning frightens both the Pharisees and priests.  They order the temple guards to arrest Jesus.  When the temple guards return empty-handed, they explain, “We have never heard anyone speak like this man.”  This angers the Pharisees who retort, “Have you been led astray, too?  Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him?  This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law.  God’s curse in on them!”

And that’s when Nicodemus speaks up.  He doesn’t argue with colleagues.  He asks a question.  And most of the time when Nicodemus speaks, he’s asking a question.  He asks, “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?”  Nicodemus has a strong sense of justice and fair play.  He does not like it that this fellow Pharisees have already judged and condemned this Nazarene without hearing his side of the story.  His colleagues angrily replied, “Are you from Galilee, too?  Search the scriptures and see for yourself – no prophet ever comes from Galilee!”

The Pharisees were wrong on two accounts.  One, while it is true that most prophets did not come from Galilee, there was at least one – Jonah, the same Jonah that sailors had left for dead, swallowed by a giant fish, only to wash ashore three days later.  Two, apparently Jesus had several admirers in the Pharisee party.   Jesus often dined with Pharisees.  He shared their belief in a resurrection of God’s people.  On one occasion, some Pharisees came to Jesus with a word of warning to save his life.  

And apparently there was a small group of Pharisees located in Jerusalem who followed Jesus’s career with interest.  Perhaps, they were present that December when at Hannukah, Jesus healed a man born blind.  When the critics said, “This man is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath,” his defenders asked, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” (John 9:16).  I strongly suspect that Nicodemus was once again asking a question.

In a fascinating literary style, Jesus reappears in Jerusalem in John 12 for Palm Sunday, but the author tells us very little about that dramatic week, for in John 13 Jesus is washing his disciple’s feet and is soon betrayed.

I think that in between his triumphant entry and the washing of his disciples is where the events of John 2:13-21 actually takes place.  In John 2:13-22, Jesus cleans the temple. 

I suspect that this small group of Pharisees in Jerusalem recognized the temple cleaning as a prophetic act and wanted to learn more about Jesus.  Having discussed the matter among themselves, they agreed that Jesus’s mighty miracles, his acts of healing, were proof enough that he was sent by God, but they had questions about his teachings about kingdom of heaven.   Therefore, they decided to send a representative to speak to Jesus one-on-one.  He would go by himself, at night, to avoid the crowds.

Sounds like a job for Nicodemus.

Now Nicodemus was no ordinary Pharisee.  He was also a member of the Sanhedrin, the governing body of the Jewish people – within Roman Empire limitations.  Having to work with his fellow Pharisees and across the aisle with Sadducees, and occasionally with the Roman governors, he was a master of diplomacy.  So instead of just asking how a person could enter the kingdom of God, Nicodemus breaks the ice by saying, “Teacher, we know you are a man sent by God for not one can work the miracles that you perform if God wasn’t with him,”

Then Jesus surprises Nicodemus, by answering his question, before he asked his question.  “Unless a person is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Nicodemus is impressed.  Jesus just answered his question, but leads to another question.  “What do you mean ‘born again’?  Can a man be physically born again?”

Jesus explains how a person must be born both of water and spirit.  Humans can only give physical life, but the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life.  And just as you can’t see the wind, but yet see it at work, so a person cannot see how the Holy Spirit works.

Once again, Nicodemus asks a question, “How are these things possible?”

Jesus gently points out to Nicodemus that he’s supposed to be the respected Jewish teacher.  So Jesus being a good teacher, if somewhat unrespectable, reaches way back into Jewish history to find an example that a Jewish scholar like Nicodemus would understand.  He refers to Numbers 21:4-9.  In this story, the Hebrew people are still wandering in the desert and are still complaining.  The Lord responds to this ingratitude by sending venomous snakes into their camp.  Dying from snake bites, the people ask Moses, once again, to pray for them.  The Lord answers Moses’s prayer with a most unusual response.  He commands Moses to have the craftsman to make a snake out of bronze metal.  This bronze snake is to be attached to a pole, and “all who are bitten will live if they simple look at it!”  Strange, isn’t it?  To be healed from snake bites, the people had to look at a snake.

In the Jewish book “The Wisdom of Solomon” written about 100 years before Jesus, the author also comments on this accident:

“For when the terrible rage of wild animals came upon your people and they were being destroyed by the bites of writhing serpents, your wrath did not continue to the end; they were troubled for a little while as a warning, and received a symbol of deliverance to remind them of your law’s command.  For the one who turned toward it was saved, not by the thing that was behold, but by you, the Savior of all.  And by this you also convinced our enemies that it is you who deliver from every evil.  (The Wisdom of Solomon 16:5-8 NRSV).

Jesus explained it this way, “And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.  For this is how God loved the world; He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:14-17 NLT).

I’m sure when Nicodemus met up with his colleagues again, they had a most interesting debriefing. 

Throughout the week, Jesus continues his teaching and answering questions.  Then either late Thursday evening or early Friday morning, Nicodemus is summoned to an emergency meeting of the Sanhedrin.  Jesus has finally been arrested and placed on trial.  High Priest Caiaphas point-blanketly ask Jesus if he is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.  Jesus, who has remained silently, quietly answers “I am.  And you shall see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Father, coming in clouds of glory.”

The Sanhedrin take their vote.  Did Nicodemus vote to condemn Jesus?  Or did he abstain?  I think he and a few others probably abstained.

On Good Friday, Nicodemus watches Jesus being nailed to the cross beam, and then watches the cross beam physically lifted and attached to a Roman cross, possibly an olive tree.  That powerful visual brings back to mind, what Jesus had said earlier that week.  Nicodemus catches his breath in his ah ha moment.  Now I understand….just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must Jesus the Son of Man be lifted up….and all who look toward him will be healed.  With this new insight, Nicodemus quickly runs through his mind any other scriptures that would serve as a clue to what was unfolding before him.  He quickly comes to what we now know as Isaiah 53, the funeral dirge, the Song of the Suffering Servant.  The Man of Sorrows.  Acquainted with bitterest grief.  He barely looked human.  We thought his punishment came from God.  But it was the sins of my people that he carried.  It was the iniquities of my people that he bore.  He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.  By his condemnation, we were forgiven.  By his scourging, we were healed.  By his death….we are born again.

Standing at a distance from the cross, the scriptures came together for Nicodemus, like a giant puzzle missing the box.  Somehow, this terrible death was part of God’s will, part of his good plan, an act of love.  Somehow Jesus had taken on the sins of the people in order to heal his people.

At this point, the easiest thing for Nicodemus to do, would be to walk away.  But he couldn’t.  The great love that Jesus had for him and for their people, stirred a love in Nicodemus for Jesus, even in death.  He would perform one last act of kindness.

Justice led Nicodemus to defend Jesus.  Curiosity led Nicodemus to question Jesus.  Love led Nicodemus to bury Jesus.

Nazareth was too much far away for Jesus to be taken home and given a proper burial.  Besides, his brothers would have nothing to do with him.  His mother Mary was at the foot of the cross, sobbing and weeping. She did not have the physical or the emotional capacity to carry out that task.  The thought of Jesus’s body being tossed into a wheelbarrow and thrown into the local dump was unacceptable.

So Nicodemus and his good friend, Joseph of Arimathea devised a plan.  Joseph of Arimathea had an unused tomb that was nearby in a garden.  Joseph would use his Sanhedrin credentials to ask the Roman governor Pontius Pilate for the body of Jesus.  It was a risky gamble.  Legally, Jesus was a Roman rebel who was sentenced to death.  But Joseph gambled that Pontius Pilate would grant permission, given his seemingly reluctance to have Jesus crucified.  In the meanwhile, Nicodemus would hastily purchase the burial supplies – the clothes and anointments.

The sun was setting.  They quickly applied spices as well as some flowers from the garden.  They wrapped Jesus’s body in a long cloth, and his head in a smaller cloth.  But before they wrapped the head, following Jewish custom, Nicodemus takes a feather and places in front of Jesus’s nose.  The final test to determine if someone had truly died.  The feather did not move.

Finishing the job, they leave the tomb, and Joseph’s servants roll the stone in front of the entrance.  Standing nearby were a handful of women fighting tears.  Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus exchange sympathetic glances with the women.  The women understand that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had done the best they could in the little time that they had.  They were grateful that two men and quickly and generously provided a final resting place for their teacher.  The women silently vowed that they would return at first daylight on Sunday to give Jesus a proper burial.

For Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, there would be a political fallout when High Priest Caiaphas learned what they had done.  The political price was no longer a concern for them.  All Nicodemus could focus on was that he had just buried the man who told him that he must be born again.

Unbeknownst to them, they have a provided an invaluable service.  Early Christians would not have invented a story that two men of the Sanhedrin that had condemned Jesus were the ones who had actually buried him, while his disciples were hiding.  That would have been embarrassing.  But it was the truth and proves the historicity of the event.

In their act of compassion, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea had set the stage for the story of Easter.  Joseph thought that as the years went by, he and his family would rest near Jesus in the tomb.  Instead, Joseph had to purchase another tomb for his family for family to rest in him.  And not because Jesus needed the tomb all to himself.  On the contrary, Jesus proved that he just needed to borrow the tomb for the weekend!

One of the reasons that we celebrate Easter is because Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus are witnesses that yes, Jesus truly died on a cross, was buried, and on the third day rose again.

(I wrote this one year ago, after Easter 2020)

One of the ways I spent some of my time during Holy Week this year, as we practiced staying safer at home during this pandemic, was putting together this puzzle of “the Resurrection window,” which graces the sanctuary of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection outside Kansas City.

The window itself is huge. It’s 35 feet high and 92 feet wide. When it was installed three years ago, it was the largest stained-glass window in the world. 

Not only is the window really big, it tells a really big story. The biggest story of all, in fact. It depicts the story of the Bible, from start to finish. It starts on the left with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, plucking the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which resulted in their being banished from Paradise. There we also see some of the main characters of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament. There’s Cain killing Abel, Noah and the ark (with the requisite giraffes standing tall), Moses and the stone tablets, Ruth and Naomi, King David and his harp, Daniel and the lions, Queen Esther and others.

Then as you move toward the center of the window, there’s the risen Christ, the focal point of the window, with his arms open before him, the cross empty behind him, and scenes from the story of his life and ministry alongside him. There’s Mary with the baby Jesus in the manger, Jesus being baptized by John in the River Jordan, Jesus calling his first disciples, meeting the woman at the well, welcoming the children, beckoning Zacchaeus to come down from that tree, instituting the Lord’s Supper. At the foot of the cross, Mary Magdalene sits on a stone and weeps.

Then as you continue to move toward the right, you see figures from the history of the church. There’s Peter and Paul, Perpetua and Augustine, and the Protestant reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin. There’s the founder of the Methodist movement John Wesley astride his horse and beside his mother Susanna and Francis Asbury. There’s Mother Teresa and Teresa of Avila, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi. 

There’s civil rights icons Rosa Parks and Mamie and Emmett Till, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There’s the famed evangelists E. Stanley Jones and Billy Graham, and the author CS Lewis. In the lower right corner, we see a lion lying down with the lamb and the wolf and a figure holding a sword beaten into a plowshare, fulfilling the prophecies of old, underneath the Tree of Life described in the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, Revelation.

It’s the whole grand sweep of the Biblical story, from beginning to end, Paradise Lost to Paradise Found, all illuminated in stained glass, as a puzzle. This year, this Holy Week especially, when everything seemed to be out of place and falling apart and just one big mess of jarring jaggedness, I was looking forward to putting the puzzle pieces of this story back together before Easter. 

I started on the puzzle the Saturday before Palm Sunday. A week later, after a week of listening to a lot of John Prine who had died a few days before from COVID-19, on the afternoon of Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday, I snapped the last piece from around Jesus’ feet into place. It seemed a good time to quote John 19:30: “It is finished.”

I left the puzzle out the rest of the Easter weekend, and I began to reflect on my process of completing it. Without really planning to or meaning to, I had started on the right side, at the end of the story. Its completion, its fulfillment, its consummation at the end of Revelation, when all will be restored, renewed. When there will be no more tears, no more pain, no more death. When all will be made well, whole, new. “In the end is our beginning,” as the old hymn has it.

Then I realized I moved from the end of the story all the way back to the very beginning, to the start, to the story of creation, of Eden and of the entrance of sin into the story. Where it all started going awry. When we lost our way when we went our own way. 

Then I kept going back and forth, side to side some more, until eventually I made my way to the center, to Jesus, to the One standing there in front of me, of all of us, with his arms open wide, seeming to say both COME and GO at the same time. BOTH “come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28) AND “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Speaking of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity is depicted across the top of the window. God the Creator as the swirling cosmos on the left, God the Holy Spirit as a dove hovering over the tongues of fire descending upon the church at Pentecost on the right, and God the Son in the center with each of his palms and pointer fingers reaching up to them, as if in both a giving and receiving posture. Perichoresis is the ancient Greek term for the Trinity. The connotation is a dance in the round. I like that. The Trinity as an eternal dance, and we get to join in.

There’s not just the Trinity but there are trinities elsewhere in this window. There are the three trees – including the crude one in the center, the cross – in the midst of the three gardens. There are three water wells – the one where Joseph was thrown into by his brothers before being sold into slavery, the one where Jesus met the Samaritan woman who then went to tell her entire village that she’d met the Messiah, and a well representing those the church helped to build in Africa to supply clean fresh water there.

And wouldn’t you know, “a river runs through it” (to quote the title of one of my all-time favorite movies about a fisherman preacher). Just like the last chapter of Revelation said it would. And just like Jesus said in that same book that he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, this river of life forms the shape of an Omega, the last letter in the Greek alphabet. A “watermark,” if you will, upon the whole puzzle. The beginning and the end right there in the center of it all.

This puzzle is a window into the whole entire story of God, all the way from creation to the covenant to the cross to the resurrection to the church to the new creation. And there is Christ in the center, inviting each one of us to enter into this story ourselves and to see our stories in the light of this story, to fit the puzzle pieces of our lives to his, and to find our place among the company of his followers and the communion of saints.

There’s a lot more that can be said about this window, its symbolism and all the people who have made it possible, and I invite you to read about it yourself at https://sacredspaces.cor.org/leawood/window/.

There’s never been much of a question in my mind about what to do about a puzzle once I’ve completed it. Maybe I would let it sit out a few days, but eventually I would take it apart and put it all back in the box and on a shelf somewhere. But Tracy could tell I was particularly fond of this puzzle, so she suggested that I use this gluey substance called “Mod Podge” to seal it and save it and set it in my office as a reminder of perhaps my most peculiar and puzzling Holy Week ever. She just so happened to have a bottle of the stuff lying around. So I put a few coats on it, and now it’s ready.

What about the box it came in? I put it in recycling. It had served its purpose. It was helpful to me to look at when I was putting it together, but I didn’t need it anymore. Besides, it was empty now. As empty as the tomb.

“All rise.  Court is now in session.”

What you are now witnessing is the most strange and unusual murder trial.  In this courtroom, a diverse group of characters, some historical, some literary, some familiar, some not familiar, have gathered together to relive the drama of what is known as Holy Week.  It is a trial that could only occur in that space where history and imagination meets, the dreams of men, the Midnight Zone.

“The Honorable Judge Bryant is now presiding.  All parties have been sworn in, Your Honor.”

“Thank you, Officer Ryans.  Please be seated.”  The audience quietly and quickly sits down.  Judge Bryant glances at the three defendants who seem to represent every culture from ancient history.  The first looks Jewish dressed in elaborate religious robes.  The second looks to be some Middle Eastern descent dressed with a royal purple cloak.  The third looks be Italian with a military look, dressed in some Roman toga.  Defending them is an older man, dressed in a 1980’s style grey suit, more focused on finishing his hot dog than the court proceedings.

“All right, District Attorney Dante, please give the court your opening argument.”

A very distinguished man dressed in red robes stands up and makes a slight bow.  “Thank you, your honor.  We are here today to see that justice is served to three of vilest villains known to history.  Together, they have committed the crime of ages.  The States charges each of them for the murder of Jesus of Nazareth.

“First, I begin with Joseph ben Caiaphas, better known as Caiaphas, high priest of Israel.  The state will produce the minutes from an executive meeting of the great Jewish body, the Sanhedrin.  This meeting took place shortly after Jesus of Nazareth had raised his beloved friend Lazarus of Bethany from the dead.  At this meeting, it is Caiaphas the high priest, who argues that it better for Jesus to die than it is for all the people to perish.  In doing so, he set in motion the events that lead to the murder of Jesus of Nazareth.  The state will call several witnesses to prove this, respectable leaders such as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.

“Second, we have Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee and son of King Herod the Great.  Herod Antipas has lived a life of death and destruction.  He broke his marriage vows and broke the heart of his first wife, a beautiful Arabian princess.  In an act of both adultery and incest, he stole his brother Herod Philip’s wife, Herodias – and Herodias was his niece!  At this time, he was called to repentance by the wilderness prophet, John the Baptist.  Herod Antipas unfairly had John the Baptist imprisoned in his dungeon.  Then later at the urging of his wife Herodias and his stepdaughter Salome, he had John the Baptist beheaded while he was celebrating his birthday.  When Jesus of Nazareth was brought before Herod Antipas, Herod Antipas found him not guilty.  But instead of freeing Jesus of Nazareth, he and his soldiers mocked Jesus, placing a royal robe on him, and sent him back to Pontius Pilate to face Roman justice.  The state will call several witnesses to prove this, including Chuza, Herod Antipas’s personal steward and Joanna the wife of Chuza.

“Finally, we have Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea and Samara.  Pontius Pilate has also lived a life of death of destruction.  As governor, he allowed his soldiers to kill peaceful protestors who were protesting how a Roman aqueduct and been illegally funded with temple funds.  Later, his soldiers killed several Galileans while they were making sacrifices in the holy temple.  Today, he stands trial for his judicial incompetence that led to the murder of Jesus.  Court transcripts will show how time after time, he declared that he found no fault in Jesus.  And time after time, he allowed the mechanics of a flawed judicial system to torture Jesus.  He sent Jesus of Herod Antipas.  When Jesus returned, Pilate then had him tortured by soldier brutality.  Then, he even had the nerve to let the public take a vote on whether Jesus should be set free.  Finally, he washed his hands of the matter.  But the fact is that even he told Jesus that the final authority to either crucify or set him free rests with him.  The time has come for the judge to be judged.  The state will call several witnesses to testify to Governor Pilate’s incompetence and cruelty, one of which will be his wife Procula who recognized that Jesus was a righteous man who should be set free.  Why his wife would have made a wiser judge than he!”

The courtroom broke out into laughter until Judge Bryant banged her gavel a few times.

“Thank you, District Attorney Dante” Judge Bryant replied, “That’s quite a towering inferno of indictments that you have.  And yes, wives often make better judges than husbands.  Councilor, it’s your turn.”

The defense lawyer finished his last hot dog and arose. “Your honor, my clients and I do not disagree with anything that the District Attorney Dante has said.”  Instantly, all three defendants turned their heads and glared at him.  Ignoring them, the lawyer in the grey suit continued, “I believe that my clients are not guilty of murder.  I have only one witness that I need to call to prove my point.”

“Very well then,” replied Judge Bryant, “if the District Attorney is amendable, for the sake of time for all involved we shall call your first and only witness.”

District Attorney Dante rose up, “While this is most unusual, I will gladly let the defense make best case possible.  No one under heaven can possibly exonerate these three villains with his or her testimony.”

“Very well then.  Councilor, please call your first and only witness.”

“Your honor, I call Jesus of Nazareth.”

The audience went into an uproar and shock as Judge Bryant once again used her gavel to restore order.  The back doors of the courtroom opened and entered in Jesus of Nazareth.  Many in the audience felt the need to bow, just as they had earlier felt the need to stand for the judge.  Jesus serenely walked to the front of the room up to the bailiff.

“Your honor, I object” protested District Attorney Dante, “where’s the proof that his man is truly Jesus of Nazareth?  Does he have a way to identify himself?”

Serenely Jesus replies, “Mr. Dante, I am he.  Look at my hands.  See the nail scars.  Look at my side.  See the scar left by a spear.  Look at my feet, see the nail scars there as well.”

“Objection overruled.  Officer Ryans, please swear in the witness.”

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

Jesus replied, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  And those who have seen the Son have seen the Father also.”

Officer Ryans looked confused.  “So are you going to tell the truth?”

Jesus replied, “I came into this world to give witness of what is true.  All those who love the truth listens to the words that I say.”

Jesus took the stand, while the defense lawyer waived his right to question his own witness.

District Attorney Dante gave it all he had, pointing furiously at Caiaphas. “Jesus of Nazareth, is it not true that Caiaphas the high priest specifically said that you needed to die, that he put out orders for you to be arrested, that he made arrangements to have a friend to betray you, and it was he who asked the questions at your Jewish trial that lead to your condemnation?”

“It is true.”

District Attorney Dante now pointed at Herod Antipas.  “And is it not true, that Herod Antipas did not find you guilty of anything, but instead of setting you free, he and his soldiers mocked you, and sent you back to Roman Governor Pontius Pilate?”

“It is true.”

“And is it not true” continued Dante now pointing to the third defendant, “that Governor Pontius Pilate on numerous occasions found you not guilty?  But instead of dismissing the charges, he sent you to Herod Antipas, then had you flogged by his soldiers who mocked you, then put you up to a popular vote, and then finally sentenced you to death?”

“It is true.”

“Then if all of that is true, then is it not true, that they are guilty of murder, of taking your life?”

“That is not true.”

“Not true?  How?”

“Because I am the Good Shepherd.”

“A good shepherd?  My records indicate that you were a good carpenter, a good preacher, and on one occasion a superb fisherman.  What do you mean a good shepherd?”

“I am the Good Shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

It was now District Attorney Dante’s turn to look incredulous.  “You ‘voluntarily’ gave your life? And no one, not even High Priest Caiaphas, or Herod Antipas or Governor Pilate, took your life?”

“No one.  I gave my life freely.”

“Why?  Why would you do that?  There’s always a motive!”

“Love.”

“Love? What does love have to do with it?”

Gazing at the packed room before him, Jesus replied, “No greater love can a man have than this: to lay down his life for his friends.”

The courtroom at this point was reverently silent.  The audience was too scared and too in awe to even make a breathing noise.

“Well,” observed Justice Bryant after a few moments, “it’s going to be rather hard to convict three men for murder charges, when the murder victim is on the stand testifying on their behalf.”

District Attorney Dante responded, “Your Honor, I move that these charges be dismissed.  But the state will bring these three men back for charges of attempted murder.”

“Councilor?”

“That’s fine by me, Your Honor,” the councilor replied.  Turning to his three clients, Mr. Matlock quickly added, “Sorry boys, but you’re on your own for that trial.”

He reported directly to the most powerful man on earth, but his legacy is forever linked to a man on death row.  Remembered by some as a saint, shunned by others as a monster, he name is mentioned by millions every Sunday.

His name was Pontius Pilate.

Rightly or wrongly, Pontius Pilate is usually considered to be greatest villain in the Easter story.  I don’t agree with that assessment, but he does come in second.  How ironic that the man personally hired by the Roman Emperor Tiberius is now remembered only for sentencing Jesus of Nazareth to death.  His wife Procula has fared better.  In the Greek Orthodox Church, October 27^th is Saint Procula’s Day.  In the Ethiopian Church, June 26^th is Saint Pilate and Saint Procula’s Day.  So while some Christians regard Pilate as a saint, others speak of Pilate as being a bloody thirsty tyrant.  Neither of these portraits capture the complex man.  Following our pattern of complex Biblical villains, Pilate was the politician who was too willingly to use violence, and yet ended up playing defense attorney at the Roman trial of Jesus.

In churches across the world, Christians will recite either the Apostle’s Creed professing that Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate” or the Nicene Creed professing that “for our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate.”  In those few lines, only three names are mentioned, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Pontius Pilate.  That’s a strange trio.  But the lines about Pontius Pilate are extremely important.  With legends and fairy tales, we have “long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away” or “once upon a time.”  But as C.S. Lewis noted in Mere Christianity, the story of Jesus “happens—at a particular date, in a particular place, followed by definable historical consequences. … to a historical Person crucified (it is all in order) under Pontius Pilate.”

So who was Pontius Pilate?  Following the death of King Herod of the Great, the Jewish nation was divided into several parts.  The smaller parts went to the sons of King Herod of the Great.  The lion’s share, Samaria and Judea, which included Jerusalem and the port city of Caesarea, went to the Roman governors.  Pontius Pilate was the fifth Roman governor, known as a prefect, ruling Judea and Samaria from 26-37 AD, giving him a front row seat to the rise of Christianity.  Piecing together the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus, the philosopher Philo, and the four Gospel writers, we have a picture of an awkward administration.

First, Josephus tells us how that when Pilate moved his soldiers from Caesarea to Jerusalem, he gave them orders to bring their military standards in under the cover of night.  Now, the standards had images of the Emperor.  To the Jewish people, this was idolatry, plain and simple, in the Holy City.  And Pilate knew that – that’s why he had his soldiers march in at night.  The people of Jerusalem went to Caesarea and protested to Pilate.  On the six day of the protests, Pilate had his soldiers to surround the people.  He warned the people that they would die if they continued protesting.  The Jewish people said that they would rather die than allow such idolatry to occur.  Josephus writes that “Astounded at such religious zeal, Pilate immediately transferred the images from Jerusalem to Ceasera.”

Then Josephus tells us about what might be called Pilate’s “Watergate” Scandal.  Pilate realized that Jerusalem desperately needed better infrastructure to bring in more water.  Being a good Roman, he worked on a way to engineer that.  The only problem: there wasn’t enough tax dollars to go around.  You might even say there was “inadequate” funds for the aqueduct.  So apparently, Pilate strongarmed Caiaphas the High Priest to help fund the project – after all the Temple was the biggest user of the city water.  Pilate naively thought that he could get away with this, but when the public realized that Temple money had been used for municipal purposes they protested.  And why not?  It worked the first time.  Josephus tells us the tragic ending: “Anticipating the riot, Pilate had ordered many of his troops to mingle with the crowd, disguised as civilians, and on his signal they clubbed the abusive Jews.  Although Pilate had ordered them not to use swords, a large number were killed, some from the blows, others from the stampede which followed.”  Again, note the deception involved, just like carrying the standards in by night, Pilate had his troops dressed as civilians.

Apparently alarmed at how Emperor Tiberius had become suspicious of everybody, Pilate decided to prove his loyalty.  This led to archeologists making an exciting discovery in Caesarea in 1961.  Apparently, Pilate had built a basilica in honor of Tiberius, and the archeologists discovered the badly damaged corner stone that read “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea, has presented the Tiberieum to the Caeserians.”

It is here that we turn to the writings of Philo the Philosopher.  In another attempt to honor his boss, Pilate had some shields made inscribed to Tiberius’s honor.  He hung these shields in his palace in Jerusalem.  The Jewish leaders, however, thought that they had pagan overtones and asked for them to be removed.  Pilate refused.  Seeing an opening, the four sons of Herod of the Great, lead by Herod Antipas wrote a letter to Emperor Tiberius.  The Emperor was furious with Pilate and wrote a scathing letter, ordering him to relocate the shields to Caesarea (sound familiar?) and to respect the Jewish traditions.  Pilate was on thin ice with his boss and was angry at Herod Antipas.

Now, we turn to a little noted incident in Luke 13:1-5 NLT:

About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”

Apparently, Pilate had used excessive violence, again, resulting in the deaths of innocent Galileans as they were making sacrifices.  Once again, Pilate had ignored Jewish sensibilities about idols, the Temple, and Jerusalem the Holy City, and had responded with violence.  Jesus, looking past Pilate and looking ahead to the fate of unrepentant Jerusalem, warns the people that unless they repent, they would also perish in Roman violence and destruction.

Interestingly, as Josephus is writing about Pontius Pilate, he makes an offhand comment.  Somewhere later in history, the offhand comment was “cleaned up” by a well-meaning, but foolish scribe.  But thanks to archaeology, we can be very confident that Josephus originally wrote the following:

“At this time there was a wise man called Jesus, and his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous.  Many people among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples.  Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die.  But those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship.  They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive.  Accordingly, he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the prophets have reported wonders.  And the tribe of the Christians, so named after him, has not disappeared to this day.”

Contrary to what some the radical atheist crowd might say, here is exhibit A that Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth.  And this leads to directly to the four Gospels and the events of Good Friday.

Earlier on Good Friday, Pilate had sentenced two criminals to crucifixion.  No hesitation there.  But he seemed to be caught off guard, when his sparring partner the Jewish high priest showed up on a major Jewish holiday with a criminal that he wanted to be crucified.

Much to the surprise of the Jewish priests, Pilate responded with “What charges do you bring against this man?”  In the judicial system in the United States, that would be the equivalent of “All rise.  The case of Caiaphas vs Jesus of Nazareth.  The honorable Judge Pilate presiding.  All parties have been sworn in, your Honor.”    The chief priests were dumbfounded.  They wanted Pilate to rubberstamp their death penalty verdict.  Instead, Pilate was opening the case for himself.

What was his reasoning for this?  Some scholars chaff at the idea of Pilate playing defense attorney for Jesus, given his tendency to use violence.  I disagree.  I think this is where the exception proves the rule.  I think the chief priests thought that because Pilate was so quick to use violence that he would readily sign off on it.  But I think several factors weighed in Pilate’s decision.  He knew the uproar that Herod Antipas had gotten himself into when he beheaded John the Baptist.  He knew Jesus was a popular preacher with many fans.  He knew that his wife was a fan.  He didn’t like Caiaphas after being double crossed about the water situation and the shields incident.  He didn’t like the idea of carrying out the dirty work for the high priest.  Finally, I think Pilate knew that Jesus was an innocent man and sought a way to get out of this situation.

And oh the ways he tried.  Early on, he tries to pawn Jesus off to his rival ruler Herod Antipas.  But Herod Antipas being the crafty fox had no desire to execute another beloved prophet.  He sent Jesus back to Pilate.  But he did appreciate Pilate for being considerate enough to send his subject to him.

Pilate then tries to compromise.  Even though he thinks Jesus is innocent, he ordered Jesus to be severely flogged.  After the flogging, the Roman soldiers mock Jesus with a crown of thorns and purple robe.  But Pilate soon realizes that this is not enough to meet the demands of the Jewish priests.

Pilate then tries to use popular opinion.  He even stacks the odds in his favor.  Whom shall I set free, he asks the people, Jesus or Barabbas?  Surely the crowd wouldn’t vote for Barabbas, he thought.  He was wrong.  And the terrorist was set free, while the prophet was still on death row.

When the Jewish priests let it slip that Jesus considers himself the Son of God, Pilate became frightened.  Afterall, in Roman and Greek mythology, the gods and demigods would make surprise visits.  And what about his wife’s dream about having nothing to do with this righteous man?  Didn’t great Julius Caesar’s wife Calpurnia have a terrifying nightmare, the night before Caesar was assassinated?  So Pilate asks Jesus, “Where are you from?”   But Jesus remains silent.  Pilate becomes angry with this prisoner who will not even defend himself and demands, “Why don’t you talk to me?  Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”  With serenity and confidence, Jesus replies, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” (John 19:8-11 NLT)

A few moments later the Jewish priests play their final move.  “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’ Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.” (John 19:12 NLT)  Checkmate.  Pilate had been outmaneuvered.  On his hand, Pilate wore a ring that was given to him by Caesar, symbolic of being in an elite group.  Then Pilate literally washed his hands of the matter and turned Jesus over to be crucified.

If Pilate only had the moral courage to say, this man is innocent; case dismissed, history would be so much different.  But instead, he maneuvered and wiggled, until he painted himself into a corner.  C.S. Lewis in writing about Courage, wrote that “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky.”

The reason Pilate in public opinion has become the number one villain was because he was the last roadblock on Jesus’s way to the cross.  By his own admission, Pilate had the final authority to set Jesus free or to crucify him.  And strangely enough, Jesus, bruised and bleeding, seemed to have sympathy for Pilate.  “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

It was Jesus’s quiet way of saying, “The Jewish leaders have committed the greater sin by creating this case and handing it over to you.  You are committing a lesser sin by failing in your responsibility to be fair and just judge.  But none of you would have any authority over me, unless my Heavenly Father allowed it.  He has allowed it.  It was unto this end that I was born.”

The Politician thought he was judging the Prophet.  Instead, the Prophet passed judgement on the Politician.

A few years later, Pilate would be forced into early retirement after, again, using excessive violence, this time against the Samaritans.  But his indecisive actions on Good Friday would be remembered for centuries to come.

He held the highest religious position in the land, but he could also be replaced on a moment’s notice.  Full of contradictions, he could see clearly into the future out of love for his own people, and yet, so full of anger and jealously, he couldn’t see what was in front of him. 

His name was Caiaphas, High Priest of Israel. 

Before I continue about Joseph bar Caiaphas, the High Priest of Israel, I feel the need to issue a reminder/warning to the readers.  At various times throughout Church history, a somewhat wacky idea of “the Jews killed Jesus” rears its ugly head, resulting in anti-Semitism.  Even great church leaders, no less than Martin Luther himself, have been guilty of anti-Semitism.  I find this strange on several accounts. 1) Both the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed make specific reference to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, as sentencing Jesus to death 2) Readers of ancient history and anyone who has seen the movie Spartacus will recall that crucifixion was the Romans’ way of dealing with rebels. Jewish people would stone their criminals. 3) Even Jesus referred to being handing over to the Romans 4) Pontius Pilate told Jesus that he held the power of life or death over Jesus. 

So I personally do not find the four Gospels and Acts to be anti-Semitic.  When I read the powerful sermons of Peter in Acts 2 and 3, I see a fine balance of acknowledging the roles that various parties played in the death of Jesus.  Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, because of a perfect, imperfect storm.  And I wish to look at aspect of that storm – his religious rival, the High Priest Caiaphas. 

When Israel was an independent nation, the office of high priest was for life.  When Rome conquered however, the tenure of office now depended on how long the high priest and Roman ruler were able to tolerate each other.  In Luke’s gospel, he refers to two high priests, Annas and Caiaphas. Annas had been high priest and had been demoted by the Romans.  The Romans then hired his son-in-law Caiaphas to be high priest.  So even the Romans had enough sense to keep the job in the family.  In today’s culture, we would say that Annas was the high priest emeritus, and his son-in-law Caiaphas was the High Priest. 

The priestly crowd viewed the rise of Christianity with suspicion.  In John’s Gospel, we learn that the Jewish priests sent delegates to interrogate John the Baptist about his identity and mission.  We later learn from Luke’s Gospel, that while the people considered John the Baptist to be a prophet, the priests did not. 

Then enter Jesus.  Jesus always makes things interesting when he visits Jerusalem.  For example in John 7, Jesus visits Jerusalem for the Festival of Shelters.  The people in Jerusalem are debating whether he is a good man or a fraud.  Both the Pharisees and priests decide to send the temple guard to arrest Jesus.  When they went to serve the arrest warrant, Jesus replied, “I will be with you only a little longer.  Then I will return to the one who sent me.  You will search for but not find me.  And you cannot go where I am going.” (John 7:36 NLT)  Now if I had tried that, I would be cuffed and stuffed in the backseat of a patrol car.  But this is Jesus.  When the temple guards return emptyhanded.  The Pharisees are unhappy.  “Why didn’t you bring him in?”  The temple guards replied, “We have never heard anyone speak like this!” 

Things come ahead to John 11.  John 11 takes places in a Jewish town known as Bethany.  But our Arab friends having been referring to this town for nearly 2,000 years as El-Lazariyeh, meaning “House of Lazarus.”  As Christians, we believe that name is well-deserved, for it is in Bethany that Jesus of Nazareth raises his friend Lazarus from the dead. But in doing so, Jesus signs his own death warrant! 

When word reached Jerusalem about this, it created considerable angsty among both the Pharisees and priests. “What are we going to do? This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.”  And this point Caiaphas has heard enough.  He angrily snaps, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” 

And this is what makes Caiaphas the complex villain.  On one hand, he was right.  In 70 AD, the Jewish people revolted and the temple was destroyed.  In 132, Simon Bar Kokhba was proclaimed as a Messiah when he successfully revolted against Rome.  The Romans responded in fury.  It ended with Simon dead and the Jewish people exiled throughout the Roman world.  But on the other hand, Jesus was not looking for a violent revolution.  Indeed, he wept over Jerusalem, knowing that Jerusalem would reject him and suffer at the hands of the Romans.  But as far as the priest were considered he was a false Messiah performing tricks. Therefore, “the leading priests and Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report it immediately so they could arrest him.” (John 11:57 NLT) 

Historians can confirm this incident by cross referencing it with its counterpart in the Jewish writings known as the Talmud:  For forty days it was announced that “He shall be stoned because he has practice sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy.  Anyone who can say anything in his favor, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.” 

In Matthew 26:1-5, we find the religious leaders meeting at Caiaphas’s house to plan their next moves, and to refine their steps.  They agreed that Jesus must die, but not at Passover.  There would be too many people.  They didn’t want to repeat the mistake that Herod Antipas made when he beheaded the much beloved John the Baptist.  But a change in plans comes though in verses 14-16.  Judas Iscariot, a close friend of Jesus, arrives and asks how much they would give him for his help to arrest Jesus.  With Judas’s unexpected help, perhaps they could find him and quickly dispose of him right after Passover.  Especially if they could get Pontius Pilate to do it for them. 

After his Last Supper, Jesus finally meets both Caiaphas and Annas.  First, he is brought to Annas, high priest emeritus. Jesus refuses to answer question so Annas send him back to Caiaphas (John 18:19-24).  Apparently, Caiaphas was caught off guard when he meets Jesus.  Afterall, he had a major Jewish holiday to prepare for and probably wasn’t expecting to try Jesus that night.  The result was quite embarrassing as all the witnesses turned out to be false witnesses.  So Caiaphas decides to take a more active role as district attorney. Caiaphas first asks Jesus to respond to the charges.  Jesus refuses.  Then Caiaphas asks him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”  Jesus calmly replies, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:61-62 NLT). 

Caiaphas tears his robe in outrage.  Being high priest, he knew that the phrase “I AM” was used by God himself when he spoke to Moses from the burning bush.  “The Son of Man” was a reference to the Messiah in Daniel 7:13 -14, “As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.” 

Apparently, this all happens late Thursday night with the executive committee of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council. On Friday morning, the full Sanhedrin is called together. Caiaphas and Jesus repeat the whole “are you the Messiah” routine, and Jesus is condemned to death. (Luke 22:66-71) 

Now the easy part.  Hand him to Governor Pilate, who will execute him.  But Pilate, for lots of mixed motives, refuses. He was not going to be stampeded into having Jesus executed. Caiaphas has to work overtime to get Jesus executed.  First Caiaphas has to make his case against Jesus before Pilate.  Then again before Herod Antipas.  Then again with Pilate.  Then he must get the crowd to vote for Barabbas instead of Jesus.  Finally, he checkmates Pilate by implying, if you let Jesus go, you are no friend of Caesar; I know that you are on thin ice with him already, and I will send him another letter.  The ploy works.  Pilate who had been playing defense attorney is defeated by Caiaphas who has been playing district attorney. 

The jousting between Pilate and the priests continues.  Pilate has a sign made, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”  The priests protest.  Pilate shrugs.  On Saturday morning, Pilate is irritated again when the priests ask for guards to guard Jesus’s tomb. 

Then the rest is history and faith.  Caiaphas will later reappear in Acts, sparring with Peter about Jesus and Jesus’s death.  In an ironic twist, Pilate is summoned back to Rome to answer to charges of brutality, and the new governor fires Caiaphas from the post of high priest, replacing him with his brother-in-law. 

But the greatest irony for Caiaphas came nearly 2,000 years later.  In November 1990, construction workers in Israel were surprised when their bulldozer uncovered a hidden burial cave.  Inside the burial cave, archaeologists discovered several ossuaries – stone boxes that contain the bones of the deceased.  One of those was dedicated to Joseph son of Caiaphas – the full name of Caiaphas the High Priest. How perturbed Caiaphas would be that the discovery of his bones made international headlines, only because of his connection with Jesus.  How more irritated he must be that his bones and burial box was uncovered, but those of his religious rival, Jesus of Nazareth, strangely have never been recovered!