From: sdoe@nmsu.edu (Stephen Doe)
Subject: Re: _Jesus: A Life_ by A.N. Wilson
Organization: New Mexico State University
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1993 02:28:42 GMT

In article <1993Jan1.203913.12465@engage.pko.dec.com> pub@riscee.pko.dec.com (Publius) writes:
>In article <1992Dec28.053547.18160@cs.ucla.edu> pierce@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Brad Pierce) writes:

>>        ... By
>>      unfairly blaming the Jews, the Gospel stories precipitated 2,000
>>      years of Christian antisemitism.
>
>The Gospel stories never blame the Jews for the condemnation of Jesus.
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>Gospels blame the Roman-appointed high priest for that crime.  Anyone
>who has the slightest idea of the history knows that the high priests in
>that period were Roman puppets hated by the rabbis and the Jewish populace.
>By equating the high priest with the Jews, the critics have exposed their own
>total ignorance of the history.

	Matt. 27:15-26

	Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for
the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted.  And they had then a
notorious prisoner, called Barabbas.  So when they had gathered,
Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you, Barabbas
or Jesus who is called the Christ?"  For he knew it was out of envy
that they [i. e., the priests] had delevered him up. . . Now the chief
priests and the elders persuaded the people to ask for Barabbas and
destroy Jesus.  The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do
you want me to release for you?"  And they said, "Barabbas."  Pilate
said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"
They all said, "Let him be crucified."  And he said, "Why, what evil
has he done?"  But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified."
	So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather
that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before
the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it
yourselves."  And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and on
our children!"  Then he released for them Barabbas, and having
scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.  

	Mark 15:6-15--substantially the same account.

	Luke 23:13-25

	Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers
and the people, and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who
was perverting the people; and after examining him before you, behold,
I did not find the this man guilty of any of your charges against him;
neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us.  Behold, nothing
deserving death has been done by him; I will therefore chastise him
and release him."
	But they all cried out together, "Away with this man, and
release to us Barabbas"--a man who had been thrown into prison for an
insurrection started in the city, and for murder.  Pilate addressed
them once more, desiring to release Jesus; but they shouted out,
"Crucify, crucify him!"  A third time he said to them, "Why, what evil
has he done?  I have found in him no crime deserving death; I will
therefore chastise him and release him."  But they were urgent,
demanding with loud voices that he be crucified.  And their voices
prevailed.  So Pilate gave sentence that their demand should be
granted.  He released the man who had been thrown into prison for
insurrection and murder, whom they asked for; but Jesus he delivered
up to their will.

	John 18:38-40

	After he [Pilate] had done this [questioned Jesus], he went
out to the Jews again, and told them, "I find no crime in him.  But
you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the
Passover; will you have me release for you the King of the Jews?"
They cried out again, "Not this man, but Barabbas!"  Now Barabbas was
a robber.

	John 19:12-16

	Upon this Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried
out, "If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend; every one
who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar."  When Pilate
heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment
seat at a place called the Pavement, and in Hebrew, Gabbatha.  Now it
was the day of Preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth
hour.  He sadi to the Jews, "Here is your King!"  They cried out,
"Away with him, away with him, crucify him!"  Pilate said to them,
"Shall I crucify your King?"  The chief priests answered, "We have no
king but Caesar."  Then he handed him over to be crucified.



Apparently Pilate's first impulse is to release Jesus, and only at the
insistence of the crowd does he hand Jesus over to be crucified.

I have to say here that as Publius mentions, it seems incongruous for
the priests and the people to be in accord on this issue.  The
Sanhedrin was pretty much the Vichy government of its day.  Also the
people are pretty much portrayed as being "pro-Jesus" until the
Crucifixion, when they do a complete about-face and clamor for the
death of their champion.  I think these passages reflect the concerns
of the early Church, as it became increasingly a Gentile institution
and wished to distance itself from the Jews, who were making trouble
in Palestine.  (This eventually led to the Roman destruction of
Jerusalem in AD 70.)



SD
 
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