[Come in, fully dressed in Jewish costume]
Shalom! Good morning,
My name is Joseph, (but according to your culture, you can call me Joe). I am from Arimathea, a region in the Northwest of Jerusalem [1]. I am a nobleman among the seventy members of the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem, (or Ruling Council in your term). I am here to debrief you about the incident of Yeshua, (or Jesus in your term), who was from Nazareth.
First, what were the problems? Many of you have already been aware that He commanded a peasant to carry his mattress on the Sabbath. This is a serious offense. Our Ten Commandment stated clearly: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” [Ex.20:8-11]
Carry a mattress is breaking the Sabbath; consider how we were supposed to deal with Sabbath-breaker according to the Sacred Law of God in Numbers 15:32-34: “While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, ’The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.’ So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.”
Now, with the progress of time, we may not be as vicious as back then, for we believe that this specific death penalty was pronounced directly by God in order establish a precedent for us all to follow. Therefore the only thing we can do today, is to confront our Jewish brothers and remind them when we see them breaking God’s Commandments. Often, people were just ignorant of the Law and they didn’t mean to break God’s Commandments; so when we confronted Jesus, we were expecting His quick compliance.
But no; this is how He responded to us, as recorded in the transcript you have, verse 17: “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”
This is a deadly claim! Immediately after this pronouncement, the Temple Guards went and escalated the matter up and down the authority chain. Any members of the Ruling Council available nearby were heading down to face off with this fellow right away. By the time I got there, there were more than a dozen of us from the Ruling Council surrounded him. On a balcony near by, I saw Caiaphas (the Council President in your term) observing the situation.
Let me explain a bit more about the severity of that statement. It’s not just because the defiance of “Screw you and your rules!” in this fellow’s statement, but something more deadly than that.
Which Father who “is always at his work to this very day”? Our Rabbis taught that God Himself, the Father of Israel, had continued to work since creation, sustaining the world even on the Sabbath.[2] Therefore, when this fellow said, “and I, too, am working”, He claimed to have the authority equaled with our God in order to ignore His commandment!
I could not believe what was going on, so I turned to one of my Council friends I saw there, Mr. Nicodemus (you can call him Nick) and asked, “Were you there when this man mentioned God as, ‘My Father’, are you sure He didn’t say ‘Our Father’”? (We Jewish people regard God as our Father of the whole nation and in a communal sense, but not in a personal sense. Calling God as ‘My Father’ could be interpreted in a wrong way in our culture [3])
My friend Nick nodded, “Yup, that’s what He said. By the way, this is the same fellow who disrupted the Temple merchants last year Passover. At that time, He also used that same phrase, claiming the God’s Temple as ‘My Father’s House’. What He was saying is that ‘I am equaled to God!’”
I and other Council Members all shook our head. This man was asking for a death sentence. Leviticus 24:16 stated clearly, “anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.” In that same chapter the ancient Israelites stoned a man to death for cursing God; later on under King Ahab’s reign, Naboth was sentenced to death for charge of blasphemy [1 Kings 21]; and today our Ruling Council could hand out death sentence to people who blaspheme again our God (by special agreement with the Romans)![4]
Ananias, a much older Council Member was there and wanted to contain any misunderstanding before things getting out of hand; he told all of us, “Ahem, sometimes young people didn’t mean what they say. Let’s not be hasty in condemning anyone here.”
Jesus heard that, and looked straight into each one of our eyes, and said slowly: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee…” Oh, that was Old English, I see that your modernized transcript translated that as “I tell you the truth”; nah, that didn’t express clearly the formality of the situation. In your culture, it is as formal as placing your hand on the Bible to assert that you are telling the truth. This is what He said, “I (solemnly) tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.”
Oh, good grief! Not only He called God as ‘My Father’, now He claimed that He is the Son of God. This is out right obvious blasphemy beyond any misunderstanding. You see, in your modern culture the idea of “son” connotes a different person than the father, but in our Jewish culture, a “son” is the extension of his father. The word connoted identification with rather than difference from.[5] Jesus is saying that He work during the Sabbath because He is just like His Dad, the God who sustains the universe! This is bad. No one should exalt themselves to be Son of God!
Jaws were dropping, eyebrows were raising, and we could not believe the gut of this guy! And He went on, “Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.”
There is no mistaken what Jesus was claiming here: Only God could raise the dead and give life, and here Jesus said that He could give life to people as He pleased!
As if that was not bad enough, Jesus went on and said, “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.”
You hear that blasphemous claim? God alone is our Judge! God alone should be honored! And this guy wants us to honor Him as we honor God! I was about to slap Him across His blasphemy mouth, but Nick pulled me aside. He said, “Cool down Joe! Watch out for traps, Joe. He set this whole thing up. Don’t you see that He could have done His healing on any other day but the Sabbath? And now walking into the Temple with these arguments, He must have planned this out. Let’s see what He wants first…” I might be hot head, but I am not stupid; so I listened to Nick and got back in with the crowd.
As if Jesus knew what was in our minds, He slowly said in a very serious tone, “I (solemnly) tell you the truth: whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
O, is that what He wants? Later that night, when I and Nick got together and discussed about the event of the day, we both agree that this seems to be the central plot for Rabbi Jesus to stir up everyone’s attention. He wants us to believe that He is the Son of God; that He has the same power of God; that He has power over life and death, power over the afterlife, power to judge every living soul.
Jesus qualified that claim immediately, “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.”
When I first heard it that morning, I was so outraged that a human being dared to blaspheme and called Himself Son of God, and have the power to grant life. How could anyone in their right mind entertain the thought that he is same level with the Most High God? This Jesus of Nazareth must be delusional on a grand scale. But as I went over the transcript again, I notice the other curious title; He called himself “Son of Man”[6] and God granted His judgment authority because He is a “Son of Man”[7]. I must admit that there is a possibility for God to be more fair in His judgment of humankind if He really know what living as a human is all about. Didn’t the prophet Isaiah express the same idea when he cried, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down…” [8]
But back on the scene that morning, as I told you before, we were all outraged and shocked at the claim, and we thought this Jesus must be nut! And Jesus didn’t even back off, he kept on stretching our patience: “Do not be amazed (or shocked) at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”
Even Ananias the elder couldn’t put up with this no more; he shrugged and suggested, “This is all non-sense, why are we wasting our time listening to this lunatic. It’s all words. The guy was just babbling by himself and to himself! Let’s all get back to our tasks…”
Jesus interrupted, Really? “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid.”
“Alright”, I thought to myself, “let’s call the witnesses to the stance; prove to me that you are not a loony!”
Jesus called on his first witness, John the Baptist. “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.”
That’s true; we the Ruling Council often investigate new movements among the people in order to get a handle on stuff around here. When John started gathered a large following by the Jordan, we came and checked him out: “Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ.” They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” Now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel...” And yes, for a while we “enjoy his light”, many of our people believe that John is a great prophet from God.
Then Jesus appealed to his second witness, “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me.”
The work huh? It’s true that Rabbi Jesus is widely known for the miracles he performed. The lame guy who carried his mattress earlier was a prime example. I don’t think we can refute that his miracles didn’t exist.
Later that night, I and my friend Nick argued about this second proof from Jesus. Nick said, “Rabbi Jesus must come from God, otherwise how anyone could perform miracles like him if God were not with him?” [9]
I argued back, “If He came from God like Moses, Elijah and the prophets, then wouldn’t He also must abide by all God’s Law and keep the Sabbath as well as other commandments? This is not counting his blasphemed statements earlier!”
Nick thought for a bit and said, “Yes, unless He is NOT like Moses, Elijah, and the prophets; unless He is from God but NOT in the same class like the Great Prophets.”
“You mean that He would be even greater than the Great Prophets?”
Nick quietly nodded his head.
Back to the morning incident, Jesus appealed to his third witness, “The Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”
Jesus called the whole Bible as testimony about Himself. How could we miss that? We study the Bible every week, analyzing each verse to find the “Techniques of Holy Living”, the “Methods to a Happy Being”, and even the “Standards for Eternal Life”. But Jesus said that if we don’t start with the belief in Him, then we won’t be able to understand that the promise of Redemption for Sin is about a Person, and not just a Code of Conduct.
Later that night, as Nick and I discussed more about this incident, we agreed that through out the Bible, there seems to be a thread point to the promised one, the Messiah from the beginning to the end of (what you are now known as) the Old Testament. From the opening chapters of Genesis, when humankind chose to disobey God, God promised us someone to crush the head of Satan: “And I (God) will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he (The Descendent) will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” [Gen.3:15] From the last chapters of Malachi, we found the promise of God sending someone like Elijah before the arrival of the Messiah[10]: “I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.” [Mal.4:5]
I was willing to entertain Nick’s point, “I see that He could be the Messiah!”
Nick thought for a bit, and shook his head, and pressed even further, “No, not the Messiah as our Jewish culture understood it. We have always thought that the Messiah would be like another King David, like another human being.”
I gasped, “No, you are not suggesting that He is who He claimed to be, right?”
Nick suggested, “Think about it, Joe. Can a lion behave just like a dog? Can an eagle walk like a chicken? Think about this, if God Himself were to show up at our temple and see all these merchants, what would He do? If God Himself were here and disapprove with the way we interpret His Law about the Sabbath, what would He do? Would He even care what we human have to say?”
Earlier in the day, Jesus certainly didn’t care what our institution could have done to Him; he concluded with some harsh words, “I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?” Just right then we heard the windows slammed up there in the balcony where Caiaphas was listened in. The Council President was mad, I am sure. Down here, Ananias the elder sneered at the young Rabbi, “Sure, ‘The Son’ is careless about getting any approval from us mere human! I am sure that death row heretics need no approval from their executioners!” Rabbi Jesus had just signed his own death sentence. The wrath of Council is going to be on him.
The old Ananias stormed off; we filed out after him. I and Nicodemus were the last to file out. As we left, Jesus caught the sleeve of Nick and held us back; he looked us straight in the eyes and said, “Don’t think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. If[11] you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”
That farewell statement haunted Nick that night. We found what Moses wrote, “The LORD said to me, ‘I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account’” in Deut.18:18-19
Nick asked me, “So if Jesus is who Moses wrote about, then we must listen to Him, especially if we understand that He is no human being but the Son of God. Not doing so would be eternal death by the hands of God! What do you think?”
I didn’t know how to answer my best friend, and Nick went on, hesitant, “But then, if I seriously take Him for who He claimed to be, then I must be willing to take His side and I could lose everything, everything that I have been built up so far. I could end up condemning myself by support His deadly claim too.”
I was getting nervous, “Nick, I see your evidences, and I hear your reasoning. But at the same time, I fear that line of reasoning. At this rate, you will get us both in trouble with the Ruling Council!”
He sighted, “I know, I know. To be honest, I don’t have the gut to follow Jesus right now. For now, perhaps I should settle just to be a good religious person.”
That was just the beginning. From then on, we closely observed Jesus. We have seen amazing deeds done by Him, and even heard even more outrageous claim from the man. More and more, we became convinced that He was who He claimed to be. But we still had no gut to identify with Him.
Not until that fateful day when He was condemned to be crucified by the Ruling Council, we came to the realization that Jesus was deliberately breaking the Sabbath that day in order to earn a hearing before the religious leaders; and that He was so forceful with us, so that He could make this point heard: that we need to believe in Him to have Life. And He did all that, knowing that we would nail Him for it, literally.
As I stood there looking at the cross under the purple sunset sky, I and Nick understood that Jesus died personally to reach out to the top 70 head honchos of the Jewish state. Sadly, only two of us got his message. And we were still chicken to stand on His side all this time! So, making one last decision before it’s too late, we stepped forward and asked Pilate for Jesus body as John recorded: “Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night.” John was very careful to make sure that his readers see the final tender act reserved for the Son of God, "Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it..." [John 19:38-40a]
[Take off head covering]
How about you all this morning? Do you have gut to follow the Son of God, or will you just settle to be a “Christian”? [12]
Jesus had been always pushed His disciples to answer the question, "What about you? Who do you say that I am?" He asks that question to each of us. There is only one right answer. And it’s not the type of easy answer where you can just check it off like on a test, but it takes gut to answer it correctly since it will require anyone who knows it to follow it. [13]
Either Jesus was loony, or He was a phony or He really is God.
And if you accept that He is God, then you also must accept that you are not; that you would have to follow and listen and obey to what He had to say. It meant that you may lose your control of what you want to do. It meant that you may have to make some tough choice. But it also meant that you are a true follower of Jesus Christ and not just a nice label you have.
Do you have gut to follow the Son of God, or will you just settle to be a “Christian”?
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