Why did Jesus have to die? Flashcards
Background to conflict between Jesus and authorities
• authorities didn’t understand who he was
• his message challenged their power and authority
• he was seen as a threat to peace and power of the region
—these worried the Romans and the Jews
Main reasons for conflict
-Jesus challenged the system of Jewish Law
• spoke against the rituals of worship and sacrifice and hot it was controlled by the temple
• this made him a threat to the stability of Judaism
-Jesus challenged their position of authority and power
• spoke against the power and authority of those in power - calling them hypocrites and questioning their position in the Kingdom of God
-Jesus claimed to be the ‘Son of God’
• perhaps most crucially, blasphemy. Claiming a unique relationship with God (John 10:30 “I and the father and one”)
• this was against the most sacred of Jewish teachings: Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear oh Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is one”
Context of the Roman Religion
• had beliefs (such as emperor worship) which were against Jewish beliefs
• the Romans gave the Temple hierarchy authority to rule the day to day lives of the people
• in return, they expected the Religious authorities to keep peace
• Jewish authorities saw it as their duty to preserve Judaism by:
-Following the law of Moses
-keeping the covenant
-keeping the peace with the Romans
—when Jesus claimed to be divine, Jews would be sceptical, having previously been oppressed by polytheists. Concept of a human God was a big no no
Deuteronomy 18:2-5
“if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods…and let us worship them”, you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer…That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you”
Deuteronomy 18:20
“a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death”
Leviticus 24:16
“anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death”
John 2:16-21
“…get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me’…’Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days’”
-was referring to the resurrection, replaces the sacrifice system of Judaism with one ultimate sacrifice in Jesus
-Worth noting that John moves this to be earlier in Jesus ministry to establish Jesus’ conflict with the Jewish authorities
-the temple market was where faithful Jews could buy animals for sacrifice to God for atonement and forgiveness
-the market traders were exploiting them by charging too much- which the authorities were accused of allowing and benefiting from
-Jesus objected to animal sacrifice because it doesn’t necessarily allow a true, hear-felt faith
-Psalm 51:16-17: “you do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, o God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite hear you, God, will not despise”
- links to sacrament of penance
Malachi 3:1
“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come” says the Lord Almighty”
• A clear message is given in this: Salvation is not through Jewish rituals but through faith in Jesus
Alan Culpepper
The religious authorities saw Jesus as a physical man and could not grasp his spiritual significance.
“By not having heard or seen the Father, they are Jesus’ opposite; in their response to Jesus they are the opposite of the disciples. The pathos of their unbelief is that they are the religious leaders, some even the religious authorities, who had all the advantages of the heritage of Israel” (Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel 1983)
The Healing at the Pool in John 5:1-47
First instance of real hostility between Jesus and the Jews (Verse 16: “the Jewish leaders began to persecute him”)
- the religious authorities did not see the action as an act of God but as a deliberate and punishable breaking of the commandments
- Exodus 20:8-10: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…on it you shall not do any work”
-Jesus’ response to the Pharisees:
- 17: “My Father is always at his work on this very day, and I too am working”
- 18: “For this reason they tried all the more to kill him”
The Children of Abraham in John 7:25-52 and 8:12-59
- a division amongst those attendant at the temple as to who he was, with many wanting him arrested
“they tried to cease him but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come”- seems strange, perhaps indicating that these conflicts are somewhat manufactured for a theological purpose (to show Jesus’ power)
- the authorities sent guards to arrest Jesus but they came back empty handed saying “no one has ever spoken like this’
-8:12-59
- criticism of the ‘Children of Israel’
- after trying to catch him out with a woman caught in adultery, Jesus says “I am the light of the world”
- Jesus says that being the children of Abraham was not enough to free the Jews from their sin: “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires
The Jews try to stone him, which he escapes only by slipping away- escalation of conflict
The Healing of the Blind Man in John 9:13-34
- Jesus openly criticises the Pharisees, causing conflict
- verse 16: “‘this man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’ but others asked, ‘how can a sinner perform such signs?’”
- the people who witnessed the miracles begin to follow Jesus in defiance of the Jewish authorities
- makes it difficult for the Jews to maintain order
Perhaps indicate conflicts in the Johannine community: the blind man may represent early Christians (former Jews whose eyes were opened, but were then kicked out of the synagogue/temple)
The Shepherd and the Sheep in John 10:22-42
• the shepherds job is to make sure nothing harmful happens to the sheep, even to sleep in the gate to the walled sheepfold so they can fight off any dangerous animals
• Jesus declares himself to be ‘the gate for the sheep and ‘the good shepherd
• OT: Psalm 23:1 “the Lord is my Shepherd”
• Jesus was not only declaring that he was the leader of God’s people and not the Jewish authorities, but that “I and the Father are One”- John 10:30
• “‘We are not stoning you for any good work’ they replied, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God’”
The Raising of Lazarus in John 11:45-57
- Jesus restored Lazarus to life by calling him (John 11:43)
- Lazarus arose, fulfilling the prophecy “…the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live” (John 5:25)
- contradicts teaching that the dead would rise “at the last day” (11:24)
- Sanhedrin and Pharisees (11:48): “everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation”
- Caiaphas (11:50): “You do not realise that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish”
- 53: “from that day on they plotted to take his life”
the Sanhedrin were most concerned with the political effect of Jesus than his actual claim to Messiahship
Josephus support the idea that the high priest would have proclaimed prophecy
Conflict and Controversy overall
• John 12:43: Jesus accuses Jews for loving “…praise from men more than praise from God”
• all of these conflicts and controversies had Jesus at the centre- arguing with the authorities
• John 2:13: “…the Passover of the Jews was at hand”- the feasts and festivals were not for God’s glory, but for the people’s glory
(Jesus’ arrest and trial in John 18) The build up
this whole sequence is different to the other Gospels. In MML, Jesus is sent before the Sanhedrin and the High Priest
-The build up:
• Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem fulfils OT prophecy
• The Last Supper: wine becomes his blood and bread his body - John changed the order of events so that Jesus was crucified on the day that the Passover Lamb was traditionally sacrificed
• betrayal (by Judas, who is portrayed sometimes as a hero as well as a villain for this) and arrested by temple soldiers, priests and officials in the Garden of Gethsemane
• taken to the house of the high priest (Annas) for the trial
(Jesus’ arrest and trial in John 18) Before the high priest
• Annas was the former high priest and father in law to Caiaphas, the current high priest
• Questioning was inconclusive: Jesus answered that he had taught openly for everyone to hear and he refused to condemn himself
• Jesus was then sent to Caiaphas but the author does not tell us what happened- the account is very different to the other Gospels
• Jesus was then sent to Pontius Pilate- the Roman Governor -a vicious and violent man, the main political authority
(Jesus’ arrest and trial in John 18) Before the Roman Authorities
• the Romans were the political authorities and dealt with protests violently
• their aim was to keep the peace and collect the taxes
• day to day rule was given to the religious authorities- in return, they were expected to deal with potential troublemakers
• only the Romans had the power to condemn someone to death (jus gladii - the law of the sword) so the Religious Authorities had to send Jesus to them
• Blasphemy was not a crime in Roman law so ‘the Jews’ accused Jesus of being a criminal (John 18:30),
• “Are you the King of the Jews?”- John 18:33- Pilate was unconvinced he was a political threat to Rome
• he saw he was being used in a game between Jesus and the Religious Authorities- “Am I a Jew”
• “it is your people and your chief priest who have handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”(18:35)
John 19
Pilate has Jesus flogged, insists there is no basis to charge him
• 19:7 : “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God”
• 19:12: “the Jewish leaders kept shouting…anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar”
• 19:15: “”We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered”
• the author of the Gospel clearly believes it was the Religious Authorities and not the Political Authorities who were responsible for Jesus’ death
• 19:11: “Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin”
• the religious authorities weren’t evil but ignorant and fearful, they believed Jesus had committed blasphemy in word and deed, he had challenged their authority , his presence could have caused civil unrest with Jerusalem preparing for Passover
Culpepper
• “Although they do not recognise who Jesus is, there is wilfulness in their blindness”
• “They love darkness rather than light… As a result, they do not recognise the higher plane of their own words”
• (Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel 1983)
Rivkin
• it was not easy for the authorities to know what to do about charismatic leaders who preached no violence… were these charismatic harmless preachers or were they troublemakers?
R Kysar
• observes the Fourth Gospel gives more attention to the trial before Pilate (29 verses) than to the trial before the religious authorities (6 verses)
