Christ liveth!

“My child, listen. Down the ages comes the echo, “Christ Liveth!” The Christ has never died save in man’s consciousness. Every day that you live oblivious to the Sweet Presence of My Spirit, I AM nailed to the cross of material things. Every moment that you open your heart and mind to My Inflow, the stone is rolled from your heart and the tomb, out into your daily life…”

The one solitary life

An anonymous writer, so illumined, sums up how God stepped in the middle of man’s history on planet Earth. Thus, historical epoch is marked B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini), with 33 years in between marking Our Lord’s short life on earth as man.

“He was a young man born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in still another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30, and then for three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book, held an office, or owned a home. He never lived in a big city. He never traveled more than 200 miles from where he was born. He never did any of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.

“While He was still a young man, the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through a mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, his executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on Earth, his coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed tomb.

“Nearly 20 centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the governments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected life on this earth as has that one solitary life.” (Anonymous)

Religious practices during Jesus’ time

For the Jews, there was only one Temple and it was in Jerusalem. The Temple was a holy place where they offered sacrifices to God and where they thought God dwell in a special way. Only the priestly caste had a role in temple worship, sacrificing animals to Yahweh on a daily basis. And only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

The Temple standing during New Testament times was the third one constructed in Jerusalem. The first, Solomon’s, stood for 400 years before it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. The second temple, that of Zerubbabel, was more modest. Construction of Herod the Great’s magnificent Temple began in 19 B.C. and finished 10 years later, although the work of decorating the Temple was still going on in Jesus’ days. It was completely finished in A.D. 64, only six years before the Romans leveled it during the Jewish Revolt (A.D. 66-70). It was a marvelous structure, 2,350 feet at its perimeter within a walled city, with eight main gates.

The Passover

The most important feast was Passover, which celebrated Jewish liberation from Egypt, the Exodus. Perhaps, 200,000 pilgrims came to Jerusalem for this feast. Each year the Jewish people commemorated this event with a special meal called the seder.

Jesus learned his Jewish religion in Nazareth’s synagogue, a prayer meeting house that was found in every Jewish community of ten or more men. Many larger towns had more than one synagogue and Jerusalem may have had hundreds. The synagogue — which also meant the assembly of gathered people — served three purposes: 1.) it was a house of prayer and worship; 2.) it served as a place of discussion for legal settlements; 3) it was the local school. Jesus typically proclaimed his message in synagogues. So did Paul and other early Christian missionaries who tried to point out how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures.

When Jesus was born

When Jesus was born, Palestine was part of the Roman Empire, which extended from Great Britain in northern Europe to Egypt in the southeastern part of the Mediterranean basin. The so-called Pax Romana – the “Peace of Rome” – was in effect, which meant that the entire region was united under a single rule and no wars were taking place anywhere in the Empire. This brought several benefits: a common language, an intricate system of roads, a good system of justice, and a strong military force.

Most Jews, however, hated Roman rule. For almost six centuries, Israel had been under foreign rulers: Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Seleucids. Finally, in 63 B.C. the Romans under General Pompey came to Palestine. At first, Rome permitted the Jews a limited self-rule under Herod the Great. Herod was cunning, crafty, and in many ways, cruel ruler. Matthew’s story about the “slaughter of the innocents” in other sources certainly fits Herod’s character. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that Herod slaughtered several of his sons, a wife (he had ten!), and several other relatives for fear that they might usurp his throne.

Herod courted the favor of the emperor by constructing many buildings, dedicating them to the emperor, including pagan temples, and supported emperor worship. This was an abomination to the Jews.

Herod died in 4 B.C. Three of his sons divided the kingdom among them. Archelaus (4 B.C.–A.D. 6) gained most of Samaria, Idumea, and Judea. Herod Antipas (4 B.C.-A.D. 39) ruled Perea and Galilee, Jesus’ home province. Herod Antipas reigned throughout most of Jesus’ life.

The role of Pontius Pilate

Archelaus was a bloodthirsty ruler, killing 3,000 of his subjects within months of gaining power. He was extremely unpopular with his subjects, who badgered Rome to remove him. After nine years of complaints, Rome deposed Archelaus and in his place appointed a prefect directly answerable to the Roman governor in Syria. The New Testament mentions three Roman prefects: Pontius Pilate (26-36), Felix (52-60), and Festus (60-62),

The Roman prefect’s main tasks were collecting taxes, confirming death sentences imposed by the Jewish court, keeping the peace, and reporting to Rome about the general state of affairs. He had the power to appoint and depose the Jewish high priest, who controlled Temple worship and so had a great influence on the people.

Pilate, the Roman prefect who passed sentence on Jesus, was a high-handed, stern ruler, who did nothing to endear himself to the Jews. Ruling from the seacoast town of Ceasarea, he had military standards bearing the emperor’s image erected in Jerusalem, an act that outraged pious Jews because Yahweh forbade graven images. Pilate also robbed the Temple treasury to build an aqueduct.

Longing for the Messiah

The New Testament period was high in “messianic expectations.” Most Jews strongly believed that Yahweh would send a Messiah very soon. The Hebrew word masiah (messiah) is translated into Greek as christos (christ), which literally means “anointed one.” At first, the title messiah applied to God’s chosen or anointed leader, the king. From the time of King David’s reign (100 B.C.), the Jews believed that their covenant relationship with God meant that Yahweh would give them a king who would represent the love and care he had for his people. Unfortunately, most of David’s successors were weak and corrupt, leading to the destruction of both the northern and southern kingdoms and the Babylonian exile.

One reason so many of Jesus’ contemporaries did not recognize or accept Jesus as the Messiah was that so much of what he did and said contradicted popular expectations. He was a carpenter from Nazareth, not a royal-looking figure. His message was not one of violence and war, but of peace and love. He taught love of enemies and associated with sinners. Jesus interpreted his role as Messiah as suffering for others. As Savior, he was the Suffering Servant, which even went against the thinking of his apostles until the Spirit enlightened them at Pentecost.

Changing the world by changing the hearts of men

One theme that emerges consistently in the gospels is Jesus’ attitude toward change. He gets at the root of what keeps us from being loving persons, asking us to turn our lives upside down. He challenges us to look at our lives in an entirely new way.

One day a tired father came home from work only to be greeted by his energetic six-year old son. All the father wanted was a few minutes of peace and quiet with a cold drink and his newspaper. To put his son off, he tore into small pieces a page of the newspaper he was reading. On one side was a large map of the world, on the other side a picture of a man. The father instructed his boy to put the map together again. In a few minutes, the son returned to his dad with map completed. Amazed, the father asked, “How did you do it so soon?” “It was easy,” replied the son. “All I did was put the man right. When I did that, the world came out okay too.”

This story pretty much sums up what Jesus came to do. His saving love has redeemed all people that made them right with God. If we live the new life Christ has given to us, then we can literally change the world, transforming it with God’s love.

“Thus is My Power released for all your daily needs, both for yourself and those I send to you for help. Then you will know that you do not choose whom you shall help or serve. I shall fill your life to such completeness that every step of the path will be of My Choosing and you have only to walk in it by faith to see My Glory revealed.

“Go now, My child and know that Christ is risen indeed. Risen for you in a fuller sense than ever before and the tomb or cross shall never claim Him again in your consciousness. Make now your demonstration in the knowledge that He, Who is all Power, is with you walking by your side on the road.”

(Quiet Talks with the Master by Eva Bell Werber)