I've been a little busy lately. But then as my friends who think that I only work one day a week say, the shock of being "on duty" throughout Holy Week is fairly extreme. But anyway, what follows is one of the pieces we used in our Walk of Witness around Ballybeen today at lunchtime, with the other churches. I wrote it a few years ago based upon John 11:47-53 & 18:12-14... I removed the "b" word for the public performance, but this is the original post watershed version.
The man must die. He is worse than that madman in the desert that Herod disposed of a few years ago. John the Baptizer... We breathed a sigh of relief when he “disappeared”... Then this Galilean started stirring up trouble, I almost believed that the Baptizer had risen from the dead... Apparently they are cousins...
Well, that explains it... We all know that madness runs in families. But if we do not act quickly the whole nation may run mad.
He may not seem mad... He talks of loving God and loving others... If only it were that simple. But he hasn’t shown much love towards us... He has undermined our authority, with his sermons and his stories and his sayings... Both us and the Pharisees... Now I don’t care what he says about those religious nit-pickers... But when he attacks the priesthood he is attacking the heart of religion in this nation... The heart of the nation itself.
He showed his true colours when he burst in to the temple with his rabble and chased out the temple traders... Called the holiest place in Israel a den of thieves. How dare he! Now I admit that I wasn’t best pleased because those traders pay a percentage of their profits directly to my family for the privilege of serving the pilgrims in this way. And Passover is usually their most profitable time... But its not just the money, it’s the principle of the thing. If everyone had a say about what happened in the Temple where would we be then?
What right does he have? I Caiaphas, am High Priest of the Temple of the God of Israel; I stand in a line of priests that stretches back to Aaron himself... What is this man’s pedigree? Who is his father? A Galilean carpenter, some say. Others say that he wasn't really his father... That he was actually illegitimate... Will this backwoods bastard bring down the temple? Then how will the people atone for their sins if the temple is discredited and destroyed?
When he was challenged he claimed that if this temple were to collapse he could rebuild it in 3 days... It took King Herod 10 years to build it in our fathers time... and this man will rebuild it in three days!!! I thought he was a country carpenter, not a world record stonemason!!!
Three days. If I have my way in 3 days he will be mouldering in a pauper’s grave... But then maybe he can rise from it like his friend Lazarus. Oh, I admit he has done some amazing things... I don’t know what trickery he has used, but he is good... I’ll give him that. But it is giving the people unfair expectations...
How can they get on with everyday life if they expect God to intervene all the time? To wave a magic wand and make everything better.
This world is a hard place... And it takes hard men to take hard decisions. And my decision, reluctantly, is that this man must die.
It is better that this one man die than the whole nation be destroyed. If he continues his attacks on us he will destabilise everything... and then the Romans will take over completely... And none of us want that... Do we? But if we act quickly, as soon as the feast is over... When the people are sleeping soundly after too much food and sweet wine... We could get someone to lure him to where we can arrest him without too much trouble and then we can have him tried and handed over to the Romans for execution as a rebel. And then the Romans can take the blame. It may even unite the nation as never before... In a way he will be the saviour of the nation.
One death instead of many... It is a price worth paying...
Well, that explains it... We all know that madness runs in families. But if we do not act quickly the whole nation may run mad.
He may not seem mad... He talks of loving God and loving others... If only it were that simple. But he hasn’t shown much love towards us... He has undermined our authority, with his sermons and his stories and his sayings... Both us and the Pharisees... Now I don’t care what he says about those religious nit-pickers... But when he attacks the priesthood he is attacking the heart of religion in this nation... The heart of the nation itself.
He showed his true colours when he burst in to the temple with his rabble and chased out the temple traders... Called the holiest place in Israel a den of thieves. How dare he! Now I admit that I wasn’t best pleased because those traders pay a percentage of their profits directly to my family for the privilege of serving the pilgrims in this way. And Passover is usually their most profitable time... But its not just the money, it’s the principle of the thing. If everyone had a say about what happened in the Temple where would we be then?
What right does he have? I Caiaphas, am High Priest of the Temple of the God of Israel; I stand in a line of priests that stretches back to Aaron himself... What is this man’s pedigree? Who is his father? A Galilean carpenter, some say. Others say that he wasn't really his father... That he was actually illegitimate... Will this backwoods bastard bring down the temple? Then how will the people atone for their sins if the temple is discredited and destroyed?
When he was challenged he claimed that if this temple were to collapse he could rebuild it in 3 days... It took King Herod 10 years to build it in our fathers time... and this man will rebuild it in three days!!! I thought he was a country carpenter, not a world record stonemason!!!
Three days. If I have my way in 3 days he will be mouldering in a pauper’s grave... But then maybe he can rise from it like his friend Lazarus. Oh, I admit he has done some amazing things... I don’t know what trickery he has used, but he is good... I’ll give him that. But it is giving the people unfair expectations...
How can they get on with everyday life if they expect God to intervene all the time? To wave a magic wand and make everything better.
This world is a hard place... And it takes hard men to take hard decisions. And my decision, reluctantly, is that this man must die.
It is better that this one man die than the whole nation be destroyed. If he continues his attacks on us he will destabilise everything... and then the Romans will take over completely... And none of us want that... Do we? But if we act quickly, as soon as the feast is over... When the people are sleeping soundly after too much food and sweet wine... We could get someone to lure him to where we can arrest him without too much trouble and then we can have him tried and handed over to the Romans for execution as a rebel. And then the Romans can take the blame. It may even unite the nation as never before... In a way he will be the saviour of the nation.
One death instead of many... It is a price worth paying...
© David A. Campton 2002
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