Killing Jesus: A History

comfortable in public. He enjoys people and speaks eloquently, often using stories to illuminate his teachings. Sharing his message is a great liberation after so many years of self-imposed silence, and his natural charisma and gentleness only make his listeners long for more. But it is no surprise, particularly given his outrageous behavior toward the money changers, that Temple officials have begun to watch him closely. The Pharisees, those men who obsess about all aspects of Jewish law, are paying particular attention. They are skeptical about Jesus and would like specific information before passing religious judgment on him.
    Now, under cover of darkness, the Pharisee Nicodemus, who enjoys a powerful role as a member of the Jewish ruling council, approaches the Nazarene. He has chosen nighttime because it would be awkward for him to say what is on his mind in the midday Temple courts, where even the lowliest peasant could hear his words. Nicodemus also knows that this quiet hour means that he can have an uninterrupted discussion with Jesus.
    “Rabbi,” Nicodemus begins deferentially, stepping into the light cast by the flames. If Jesus is surprised to see such an exalted Pharisee stepping from the darkness, he does not let on. “We know you are a teacher who has come from God,” Nicodemus continues, speaking for his fellow Pharisees.
    “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born from above,” Jesus replies, expressing the predominant theology of his teaching. He has been telling all who will listen that a person must be spiritually reborn if he is to be judged kindly by God.
    This is a new concept to the Pharisees. “How can this be?” Nicodemus asks in astonishment. “How can someone be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into the mother’s womb?”
    “Flesh gives birth to flesh,” Jesus replies. “Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying you must be born again.”
    Nicodemus is thoroughly confused. “How can this be?” he asks again.
    “You are Israel’s teacher, and do you not understand these things?” Jesus asks, assuming the debater’s rhetoric he so often uses when speaking with other teachers in the Temple. If he is uncomfortable scolding one of the most powerful religious leaders in Jerusalem, it does not show. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
    Nicodemus is intrigued but frustrated. He is a man dedicated to stated religious law. Now Jesus is telling him that God is about love, not rules. And that the Son of God has come to save the world, even insinuating that this is his true identity. Then the Nazarene adds talk about being reborn, as if such a thing were humanly possible. Rather than answering Nicodemus’s questions, Jesus is raising even more.
    “Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light,” Jesus concludes, “so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
    Nicodemus has heard Jesus teaching in the Temple courts, so he knows that the Nazarene likes to speak in allusions and parables. It’s not clear that the reference to stepping into the light has anything to do with his own appearance by the fire tonight, but like the other statements it is giving him a great deal to think about.
    As he walks alone back up the hill and into Jerusalem, Nicodemus finds himself fascinated by Jesus and his teachings—impressed enough that he is destined to remember him for as long as he lives. 5
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    The men of Nazareth pray the Shema, their voices blending together as one: “Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah; and thou shalt love Jehovah your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your might.”
    It is the Sabbath day, and the Shema marks the beginning of the Sabbath worship. Jesus is home from Jerusalem and now sits with his head uncovered in the same Nazareth synagogue where he has worshipped his whole life. The room is small and square, with wooden benches pressed against each wall. The Temple in Jerusalem, with its priests and vaults and animal sacrifices, is the center of Jewish life. The local synagogue, however, is the lifeblood of the faith, an intimate place where believers worship and teach, taking turns reading from the