Killing Jesus: A History

He tells them they are unclean. He denounces them for focusing on such trivial details of religious life as whether to tithe their allotment of herbs and spices, in the process completely missing the true heart of God’s law.
    Worst of all, Jesus predicts that these holy men will be condemned to hell.
    “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” Jesus laments, knowing his time of teaching is done. The Nazarene departs the Temple and will not be seen in public until the time of his condemnation. In fact, he seals his death sentence by predicting the destruction of the Temple. “Do you see all these great stones?” he asks. “Not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
    Jesus says these words to his disciples, but a Pharisee overhears. That statement will become a capital crime.
    *   *   *
    A short time later, Jesus sits atop the Mount of Olives. A week that began in this very spot with him weeping while astride a donkey now finds him reflective. With the disciples sitting at his side, Jesus summarizes his short life. Darkness is falling as he tells his followers to live their lives to the fullest, speaking in parables so that they will comprehend the magnitude of his words. The disciples listen in rapt fascination but grow concerned as Jesus predicts that after his death they, too, will be persecuted and killed. Perhaps to lessen the impact of this, Jesus shares his thoughts on heaven and promises the disciples that God will reveal himself to them and the world.
    “As you know,” Jesus concludes, “the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
    *   *   *
    Even as Jesus speaks, the chief priests and the elders gather at Caiaphas’s palace. They are now in a frenzy. Killing the Nazarene is the only answer. But time is short. First, Jesus must be arrested. After his arrest, there must be a trial. But the religious laws state that no trials can be held during Passover, and none can be held at night. If they are to kill Jesus, he must be arrested either tomorrow or Thursday and tried before sundown. Making matters even more pressing is the religious stipulation that if a death penalty is ordered, a full night must pass before the sentence can be carried out.
    All of these details, Caiaphas knows, can be massaged. The most important thing right now is to take Jesus into custody. The other problems can be addressed once that occurs. None of the people who have listened to Jesus in the Temple courts can be alerted, or there could be a riot. Such a confrontation would mean Pontius Pilate’s getting involved and Caiaphas’s being blamed.
    So the arrest must be an act of stealth.
    For that, Caiaphas will need some help. Little does he know that one of Jesus’s own disciples is making plans to provide it.
    All he wants in return is money.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
    JERUSALEM
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, A.D. 30
NIGHT
    Judas Iscariot travels alone. Jesus has chosen to spend this day in rest, and now he and the other disciples remain behind at the home of Lazarus as Judas walks into Jerusalem by himself. It has been five days since the disciples arrived in Bethany and three since Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey. But Jesus has yet to announce publicly that he is the Christ; nor has he done anything to lead an uprising against Rome. But he has enraged the religious leaders, which has put targets on his back and those of his disciples. “You will be handed over to be persecuted, and put to death, and you will be hated by all the nations because of me,” Jesus predicted yesterday, when they were all sitting atop the Mount of Olives.
    Judas did not sign on to be hated or executed. If Jesus just admits that he is the Christ, then he would triumph over the Romans. Surely the religious authorities would then be eager to align themselves with Jesus. All this talk of death and execution might come to an end.
    So Judas has decided to force Jesus’s hand.
    Judas made his decision moments ago, during dinner, when Jesus and the disciples were eating at the home of a man named Simon the leper. The group lounged on pillows around the banquet table, plucking food from the small plates in the center with their right hand. As had happened so many times before, a woman approached Jesus to anoint him with perfume. It was Mary, sister of Lazarus, who broke off the thick neck of the flask and poured nard, an exotic scent imported from India, on Jesus’s head in a show of