I have imagined the reactions and thought processes of those people involved in the Good Friday and Easter narrative.
I hope that it will assist you to meditate on these events with fresh thoughts.
For me, there
was only one kingdom in play at that time – the Roman Empire. To say anything
else was just asking for trouble.
I am a diplomat
– I do not like anyone rocking the boat. Things must remain as they always have
been.
It all started
with Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, who called the people to change their
ways. It was not what I wanted to hear as we wanted stability, anything else
would bring uneasiness for our political masters.
Then Jesus
Himself came along with His radically new teaching and His way of interacting
with society. I mean - going to parties
with sinners and tax collectors, touching lepers – whatever next I wondered!
The most
startling thing for me was when He spoke about the new kingdom of God that was
coming - one that came from God and would be forever. It was at that point that
I realised that Jesus was dangerous because He was putting Himself as the
leader of the opposition to the Roman authorities in this nation.
When He was
arrested by the temple guards sent by me, He came before me in the first
pre-trial session, which I thought was the best option since my son-in-law
Caiaphas (the high priest for the year) was all out to execute Jesus. I was
intrigued as to what He really thought as though He might have been
misrepresented by all the rumours and reports that I had heard. It would have
been the opportunity for me to gently persuade Him that He was wrong and that
the whole new kingdom teaching had just got out of control.
As Jesus stood
before me, I asked Him probing questions about His followers and His teaching.
He responded blatantly that all was on record as He had taught openly in the
synagogues and in the Temple, saying nothing in secret. He suggested scandalously
in his evidence that, if I had had any questions, I should ask those who had
listened to me.
One of the
temple guards struck Jesus with tremendous force on hearing His response because
he and the other guards in the room felt that I had been improperly addressed.
Jesus turned to us all and said: ‘If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the
wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike me?’
It was clear
that I was not going to get anything useful from Him and so, reluctantly as I
had not got Him to change His views, I sent Him to Caiaphas for further
investigation.
When Jesus was
placed on the cross, as is the usual practice, the charges against Him were
placed above Him. To my shock, it read: ‘The King of the Jews.’ We tried to get
Pilate to change it to: ‘He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews’.’ However, Pilate
would not budge, and it remained unaltered.
We saw Him die
and there was irrefutable evidence as the Roman sentries pierced Him to make sure,
but then I was troubled as I heard gossip around Jerusalem that this Man had
risen from the dead. Somehow, His disciples had seen Him alive and it had given
them courage to carry on spreading the message of Jesus. I tried to put a lid
on this new fervour, but it seemed to be out of my control.
It appears this
new kingdom will change the world after all and there is nothing I can do to
stop it.
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