Pharisees
Eleazar and Simeon hurried up the hill to where they could see that the crucifixion that had already started. Earlier they had been part of the lynch mob at Pilate’s palace, the crying for the death of Jesus. After Pilate had handed down the death sentence, they had gone to several houses of their fellow Pharisees who hadn’t been there to inform them what was happening.
“Looks like we’re missing part of the action,” said Eleazar to his overweight friend as they struggled up the mount.
“Yeah, if we hadn’t spent so much time at old Jesse’s house, we would have made it on time,” replied Simeon, gasping for breath.
“Yes, we probably shouldn’t have gone there until after this was all done. We both know what a stickler Jesse is for wanting the details. Between that, and his hearing being so bad, certainly didn’t help our speed on getting here,” said Eleazar as they neared the end of their trek.
As they approached the crucifixion area, Eleazar was surprised not only to make out Jesus hanging there, but two others receiving the same fate. He had to assume that Pilate had got tired of spending money to feed these criminals and since the soldiers were working anyway, he probably decided to cut his cost.
Simeon and Eleazar moved to the front of the crowd usually reserved for dignitaries like themselves. There they found a group of their fellow members of the Pharisee party. Someone from the group called out, “Where have you two been?” “You missed the nailing ceremonies,” said someone else with a chuckle.
Simeon who had finally caught his breath, said, “Well Eleazar, it looks like our traveling days are done; this book is closed.”
As Eleazar glanced around at the crowd and then up a Jesus, he thought, yes it’s over, but did we do the right thing.”
It had been over two years ago that the Pharisee party had meet in Jerusalem to discuss who this Jesus of Nazareth was. There had been all sorts of reports and rumors about this new, so called, prophet.
In the few times he had shown up teaching in the Temple, he had certainly had been impressive. At first there was little that they could disagree with in his teachings. He didn’t outright claim to be a Messiah but that didn’t stop others from whispering that maybe he was. That kind of speculation is what made his group nervous.
The common people loved his teaching because he brought it down to their level by using simple everyday examples, things they could understand. When he talked about God, he gave the impression that he really knew him. Some in his own party even seemed to be enthralled with this man.
With the hot debate raging about this Jesus, it was decided that a thorough investigation was needed on this matter. Simeon and Eleazar were chosen to carry out this mission because they seem to be less bias than some of the other members. The two of them determined that the best way to accomplish this investigation was to follow Jesus for period of time, and then bring back a report of their findings.
Simeon had soon regretted volunteering for this mission because Jesus had left the Judean area and was now back teaching in the Galilean region. It was tough four-day journey, especially for someone in his physical condition. He and Eleazar finally tracked Jesus down on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee near the town of Capernaum.
When they got to the region, the people were abuzz with stories of healings that had just occurred, including that of a well-known leper. In their first encounter with Jesus, he was teaching to a large crowd that had come from all over the area and even some as far away as Jerusalem.
He was sitting on a hillside teaching about what kind of people God blesses. He was obviously pandering to the crowd as he kept talking about attributes that would apply to the common people, which most of these people were. It was hard to object to most of his examples but they did take note that he told them that they would have a special blessing if they were persecuted for coming to defense of him. Sounded to them, that he was laying the foundation for future trouble.
Their ears really perked up when he told the throng that he didn’t come to abolish the Law of Moses. In fact he taught that the Law shouldn’t be change at all! They were nodding in agreement until he looked at them and said that if their righteousness is not better than the Pharisees, they were not going to enter heaven. Everyone turned and looked at us, while we just steamed.
After they cooled down, they found his teachings on murder, adultery, divorce and a number of other topics, to be quite profound. As he spoke, the crowds were spellbound; it was almost like the commoners were in a trance. When they talked about it later, they had to admit to each other, that this man was different from anyone they had encountered before.
After the mountainside gathering, Jesus hopped inside a boat along with small circle of his trusted friends and headed off to the other side of the Sea and probably to do some fishing. Someone told us he did this regularly, which they took to mean he didn’t take his teaching very seriously.
They didn’t see him for several days so they used the time to interview some of the leaders of the local synagogues to get more background on this teacher. The leaders confirmed what they had already heard, that he was nothing but a carpenter, who had no training in the law. This should have disqualified him from doing any teaching but the local synagogue leaders seemed powerless to stop him from doing so and several even encouraged him to do more.
Jesus and his friends showed up again and Eleazar and Simeon caught up with them at a home of one local members of our party. Fortuneally, we got there early because a crowd soon gathered that was so vast that it took up all the space in the house, windows and courtyard.
He had just begun to answer some of our pressing questions, when they heard this commotion on the roof and soon they saw boards being pulled up and plaster began falling on our heads. Soon a hole was created and they could see several men peering down on us. Then to our amazement, a litter was lowered down with a noticeably infirmed young man on it. I heard one of the nearby Pharisees say to his companion, “Hey, isn’t that Jabar, the shepherd that fell and became paralyzed?” His companion nodded in agreement, these locals obviously knew this intruder.
Jesus didn’t seem to mind this distraction; he looked at this Jabar then up at his friends, smiled and then told the paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven.
You could have heard a pin drop in the room. The crowd all sat there in stunned silence. “What blasphemy,” I wanted to cry out! Both of us were thinking the same thing, how could anyone forgive sins but God himself? Jesus looked around the room, into the faces of these learned men and admonished us with; “What’s easier for me to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven or get up and walk’? What he was implying to us was that he had the authority to do either one. Somehow he seemed to know what we were thinking.
Before he could be called on his sacrilege, he leaned over to Jabar and said, “Take up your mat and go home.” We were flabbergasted when he jumped up, did a dance, thanked Jesus profusely vigorously shaking his hand and patting the teacher on the back. He then took off for home with his friends, loudly praising God as he left.
After witnessing this astonishing event, no one had enough nerve to challenge Jesus on his power to forgive sins but they noted it for our report that was going back to Jerusalem.
Our next confrontation with this out of control mystic came the next day as we traveled with him and his band, to the local synagogue. There was a lot of small talk as we move on until we noticed that some of Jesus’ followers had stopped off at a field and began plucking off heads of grain to eat. This was a direct violation of the oral law regarding the Sabbath. No one should be working on this sacred day.
When they objected to Jesus about the action of his supporters, he looked at us with fire in eyes and said, “ Haven’t you read that when King David’s men were hungry that ate the sacred bread in the Temple. I’m telling you one greater than the Temple is here and the ‘Son of Man,’ is Lord of the Sabbath.” Again no one was willing to challenge him directly but we were stung by his implication that he was greater than the Temple and the Law. The audacity of this man! It took every thing we had not pick up the abundant rocks and let them fly!
When we got to the synagogue, there was a man inside who had a deformed hand. Thinking they could trap him, Eleazar asked Jesus if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath. He looked at us with that same fire that we had seen previously, and asked, “If you were a Shepard and one of you sheep was in danger on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you rescue it. Isn’t this man more important than a lowly sheep?” He then had the man stretch out his misshapen hand and he made it look like new.
While some began to immediately sing his praises, we knew he was directly challenging our authority as guardians of the Law and the very foundation that we stood upon. After that there was a serious effort among our group to come up with a way to have him killed. He must have had a spy in our mists because shortly after that he disappeared from the area.
We decided that we had enough information and made the journey back to Jerusalem. When they gave the report to the esteemed group that had sent us, they recommended that some action must be taken soon because this false prophet was out of control. He had shown great distain for us religious authorities and the Law that we protect. His popularity with the common people was growing which would be a threat to the governing authorities. His backhanded claim to be God was blatant blasphemy.
We were asked about the miracles that we witnessed. Could they be an elaborate form of trickery? We reported that they could have been but we didn’t think so. The only explanation that we could propose is that he must be demon possessed. Many of those present nodded their heads in agreement that must be the answer.
Nicodemus asked, “If that were the case, how can demons cast out demons,” which several had seen done? That was a question we couldn’t answer. Other questions were asked to the effect that, “what if he really was the Messiah? “ While the great majorities were for taking some kind of action it was no means unanimous. And so we left the meeting with no agreement on what should be done.
That all changed with the events of this week. Wild reports had come from nearby Bethany that Jesus had raised one of their leading citizens from the dead. After that, a frenzied mob had brought him into the city claiming him to be, “The blessed king who comes in the name of the Lord.” Then there had been that ugly incident in the Temple, when he had unprovokenly attacked the merchants. All of this had sent the Sanhedrin into a panic and forced them to finally act. It was decided that this troublemaker had to be gotten rid of immediately.
As Eleazar gazed at Jesus being tortured on the cross he was surprised that he didn’t feel any great elation. Even though deep down, and he knew that this was the only answer possible, there was still a lingering doubt about who this man really was. But Simeon’s observation was correct; the book on this man was now definitely closed.
Matt: 5,9,16, 23 Mark 2 John 3
- Why couldn’t the Pharisees just accept Jesus as the Messiah?
- What is there about Jesus that doesn’t fit into the mold to what he should be?
- What do we think of preachers who seem to have the power to heal?
