Killing Jesus: A History

while the Roman Republic kept its distance from Judean politics during the reign of Julius Caesar, the Roman Empire rules the Jews in an increasingly oppressive fashion.
    For now, the thousands of observant worshippers filling the desolate road spilling down to the Jordan River can forget their gripes and fears about the Roman soldiers stationed in the barracks right next to the Temple. Passover is done. They have been stopped at the city gate to pay the publican yet another one of the exorbitant taxes that make their lives such a struggle—this time a tax on goods purchased in Jerusalem. Now they are headed home to Galilee. The pilgrims march in an enormous caravan to ensure protection from robbers, kidnappers, and slavers. A lucky few lead a donkey that carries their supplies, but most shoulder their own food and water. Mary and Joseph haven’t seen the twelve-year-old Jesus since yesterday, but they are sure he is somewhere in the caravan, walking with friends or extended family.
    This is not the easiest or shortest way home, though it is the safest. The most direct route means two days’ less travel. But it leads due north, through Samaria, a region notorious for racial hatred between the Samaritans and the Jews, and along mountain passes where murderous bandits give vent to that prejudice.
    So the caravan is going around Samaria, on a path that can only be described as treacherous. There are few inns or sources of food and water, and the landscape alternates between desert and rugged wilderness. But there is safety in numbers, and Mary and Joseph’s fellow travelers are hardly strangers, for they make this journey together each year. The members of the caravan look after one another and their families. If a child has wandered away from his parents at nightfall, he is given a place to sleep and then sent off to find his parents in the morning.
    Mary and Joseph believe this is what has become of Jesus. He is a bright and charismatic child who always gets along well with others, so it was no surprise when he failed to sit with them at the campfire last night. They fully trusted that he would turn up in the morning.
    But morning has come and gone. And as the noon sun looms high overhead, Mary and Joseph realize that it has been a very long time since they’ve seen Jesus.
    They walk the length of the caravan in search of their lost boy, growing more and more concerned by the moment, pleading with fellow pilgrims for some clue as to their son’s whereabouts. But not a single person can remember seeing Jesus since the moment the endless column of travelers left Jerusalem.
    Mary and Joseph realize that not only have they lost their child, but in all probability they have left him behind.
    With no choice, they turn around and march back up the road. They will walk all the way to Jerusalem and submit once more to the Romans if need be. Nothing matters more than finding Jesus.
    His destiny must be fulfilled, even if his worried parents have no idea how horrific that destiny might be.

CHAPTER FIVE
    JERUSALEM
MARCH 23, A.D. 7
AFTERNOON
    Mary and Joseph’s long walk back into Jerusalem in search of Jesus is finally complete. Now, somewhere among the merchants and soldiers and exotic travelers in this crowded, frenetic city, they must find him.
    Meanwhile, the Son of God, as Jesus will refer to himself for the first time on this very day, listens with rapt fascination as a group of Jewish scholars shares insights about their common faith. The twelve-year-old Jesus of Nazareth sits in the shadow of the great Temple, on a terrace next to the Chamber of Hewn Stone, where the all-powerful Sanhedrin meets. Countless worshippers recently converged on this very spot during the Passover celebration, packing the terrace and the steps below so that they might hear the teachings of the sages and Temple priests. Despite the spiritual setting, the Jews were wary, knowing all the while that they were being closely watched for signs of unrest by the Roman troops of Emperor Caesar Augustus.

Jesus teaching in the Temple
    Now the pilgrims have begun their long trek home, and the soldiers have returned to their barracks in the nearby Antonia Fortress, allowing the worshippers in this religious citadel to resume their normal routines of prayer, fasting, worship, sacrifice, and teaching. It is a rhythm the child has never before experienced, and he enjoys it immensely. If anyone thinks it odd that a smooth-cheeked, simply dressed child