ThePainefulTruth
Romantic-Cynic
Roman execution by crucifixion was used almost exclusively for those who participated in insurrection. So, just to begin with, the other two (two hundred???) crucified with Jesus were probably rebels as well, not thieves. What event, then, precipitated this Roman reaction, and Sanhedrin betrayal?
I believe it had to be the cleansing of the Temple just prior to his death.
First off, Jesus didn't do it on his own as tradition has depicted it, any more than the other famous Joshua fought the battle of Jericho by himself. They led the battles. One man wasn't going to go in and disrupt the Temple merchants who were there under the protection of the priesthood. The merchants would have stopped one man on their own, and keeping order was the reason for there being Temple guards. Not only did Jesus (and his armed men) cleanse the Temple, they held it for a day, during which time they stopped all Temple commerce.
I am convinced that Jesus' faith led him to expect his actions would lead to God to re-inhabiting the Temple and ruling Israel/the World from there, with him as God's messiah/anointed one. But God didn't show, so many of his followers scattered, some of those turning on him for his failure and their disappointment--and the rest is history with this event being its most historic kernel.
I don't think it was until he was dying on the cross that Psalm 22 came to his mind, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"
What can we take from this? That Jesus was just a man like any other, and God never interferes lest He destroy the free will He created this natural, rational universe to provide us. Every catastrophe, from one meaningless death of an innocent to the genocide of millions, are monuments to God's commitment to our free will. It is the one and only purpose for Creation. And we need no revelation. Morality is born in each of us the instant we become self-aware, giving us the ability to put ourselves "in the shoes" of another.
For me, Adam is the name we give to that first anonymous human....being, ever to become fully self-aware.
I believe it had to be the cleansing of the Temple just prior to his death.
First off, Jesus didn't do it on his own as tradition has depicted it, any more than the other famous Joshua fought the battle of Jericho by himself. They led the battles. One man wasn't going to go in and disrupt the Temple merchants who were there under the protection of the priesthood. The merchants would have stopped one man on their own, and keeping order was the reason for there being Temple guards. Not only did Jesus (and his armed men) cleanse the Temple, they held it for a day, during which time they stopped all Temple commerce.
I am convinced that Jesus' faith led him to expect his actions would lead to God to re-inhabiting the Temple and ruling Israel/the World from there, with him as God's messiah/anointed one. But God didn't show, so many of his followers scattered, some of those turning on him for his failure and their disappointment--and the rest is history with this event being its most historic kernel.
I don't think it was until he was dying on the cross that Psalm 22 came to his mind, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"
What can we take from this? That Jesus was just a man like any other, and God never interferes lest He destroy the free will He created this natural, rational universe to provide us. Every catastrophe, from one meaningless death of an innocent to the genocide of millions, are monuments to God's commitment to our free will. It is the one and only purpose for Creation. And we need no revelation. Morality is born in each of us the instant we become self-aware, giving us the ability to put ourselves "in the shoes" of another.
For me, Adam is the name we give to that first anonymous human....being, ever to become fully self-aware.