Killing Jesus: A History

is everywhere, even as death approaches.
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    As the group draws close to Jerusalem, Jesus knows that a drama will unfold. He sensed it yesterday, as the religious leaders hovered at the fringe of every crowd, watching him intently as he interacted with his followers.
    This week, these priests and Pharisees are wearing robes that are even more resplendent than normal, choosing their most colorful and expensive garments as a way of setting themselves apart from the drably dressed pilgrims. The priestly robes are a reminder that the priests are vital members of the Temple, not mere visitors.
    Jesus, meanwhile, still clothes himself like an average Galilean. He wears his seamless tunic and over it a simple robe. Sandals protect his feet from sharp pebbles and sticks as he walks but do little to keep off the dust. So the walk from Bethany down into Jerusalem often gives him an unwashed appearance by comparison to that of the Pharisees, many of whom have bathing facilities and ritual pools in their nearby homes. And while his accent might sound provincial within the confines of cosmopolitan Jerusalem, Jesus does nothing to hide his native tongue. If anything, it works to his advantage, for it so often leads the religious leaders to underestimate the Nazarene as just another pilgrim from Galilee.
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    Jesus and the disciples pass through the city gates. Their movements are now being closely tracked by the religious authorities, so their arrival is noted immediately. Jerusalem has grown louder and more festive with every passing day, as pilgrims continue to travel there from throughout the world. Voices in Greek, Aramaic, Latin, Egyptian, and Hebrew fill the air. The bleating of lambs is another constant, as shepherds bring tens of thousands of the small animals into the city to have their throats slit on Friday. That grisly duty will be performed by high priests, who stand for hours in the hot sun as the blood of the lambs soaks into their white ceremonial robes.
    Jesus enters the Temple courts. Today he ignores the money changers and the men selling doves. He selects a spot in the shaded awnings of Solomon’s Porch and begins to teach. The religious leaders arrive almost immediately, interrupting him.
    “By what authority are you doing these things?” a chief priest demands, referring to reported acts of healing that Jesus performed yesterday. The interrogators who stand before the Nazarene are not just common Pharisees or scribes but the most elite of the religious leaders. Their presence is meant to awe those pilgrims who might otherwise be transfixed by Jesus. Their goal is to use their intellectual prowess to make the Nazarene appear stupid.
    “And who gave you this authority?” asks a second priest.
    “I will ask you one question,” Jesus replies calmly. “If you answer, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” He has thought deeply and anticipated their questions.
    The religious leaders have spoken with the Pharisees, who traveled to Galilee last year and are well aware that Jesus is clever. But they think him to be uneducated and unread and hope to lure him into a theological trap. The priests await Jesus’s question.
    “John’s baptism,” Jesus asks. “Where did it come from? Was it from heaven or from men?”
    The religious leaders do not answer immediately. The crowd looks on apprehensively. On one side stands Jesus, on the other side, the self-proclaimed holy men. Finally the chief priests talk among themselves, debating Jesus’s question from all angles: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ you will ask, ‘Then why did we not believe him?’”
    Jesus says nothing. The religious leaders continue with their private conversation.
    “But if we say that John’s baptism came from men, we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
    Jesus remains silent. The men haven’t given him an answer yet, and the crowd knows it. It is becoming clear that the chief priests and elders are no different than those Pharisees who tried but failed to trap Jesus in Galilee. Once again the leaders are on the defensive. Their trap for Jesus has failed.
    “We don’t know,” a chief priest finally says.
    “I’ll tell you the truth,” Jesus replies in full view of his audience. “Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But